HYDERABAD: Growers of tail-end area of Khairpur Gambo, whose sit-in outside the press club entered its eighth consecutive day on Monday, appealed to the Supreme Court to take suo motu notice of acute water shortage in their area and order the irrigation department to supply them their fair share of water.

The office-bearers of the Sindh Abadgar Association (SAA) Tarique Mehmood Arain and others told journalists at a press conference at the press club that the apex court had given a decision in 2013, directing the irrigation department to supply fair share of water to tail-end areas and curb water theft by influential landlords in Sindh, but the decision was never implemented.

“All growers and villagers of Khairpur Gambo subdivision of Naseer Canal will lie along Hyderabad railway track on April 27 and sacrifice their lives for the rightful share in water. Our area has been deprived of its actual share since 2013 as it gets very little water and that too for a month only,” said Mr Arain.

He said that growers had become fed up with staging protests to get their genuine rights. “Corrupt politicians and bureaucracy of the irrigation department often stop supply of water to our area on the pretext of water theft by Punjab, desilting of canals and various others reasons,” he said.

He said that humans as well cattle were contracting various diseases as they were forced to drink poisonous water of bored wells, which had been dug up to meet water needs of the area.

He said standing crops and 67,000 acres of agricultural land faced ruination because of gross mismanagement in distribution of water and rampant corruption in the irrigation department.

Mr Arain said that Rohri and Naseer canals had ample quantum of water these days. “Naseer Canal has three sub-divisions, Tando Allahyar, Chang and tail-end area of Khairpur Gambo, which should be supplied 450 cusecs, 350 cusecs and 750 cusecs daily, respectively, as per their share but Khairpur Gambo is supplied no water at all for a whole month. An unjustifiably huge quantum of 1,200 to 1,300 cusecs water of Naseer Canal is being supplied to Tando Allahyar subdivision only because of influential landlords of that area,” he said.

He demanded the Supreme Court, both the federal and provincial governments and the department concerned should ensure their area immediately received its fair share of water.

Meanwhile, the protesting growers continued their sit-in and kept shouting slogans against federal and provincial governments and corrupt officials of the Sindh irrigation department throughout the day.

Published in Dawn, April 25th, 2017