SUKKUR: Members of political, social, religious and trade organisations took out a procession in Jacobabad on Wednesday in protest against issuance of eviction notices by irrigation department to residents of settlements on the embankments of defunct Raj Wah.

The procession organised on a call issued by Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl marched on different roads before assembling in front of the deputy commissioner’s office where the participants held a sit-in for a brief time and then marched to the press club where they held a demonstration.

JUI-F leader Dr A.G. Ansari, president of Jacobabad Chamber of Commerce Mir Ahmed Ali Brohi, president of Shehri Ittehad Mohammad Akram Abro and local leaders of Sindh Taraqqi-pasand Party, Jeay Sindh Qaumi Mahaz, Pakistan Peoples Party-Shaheed Bhutto and trade unions said that the Raj Wah which passed through the city was closed down by the irrigation department in 1987 and a notification about its handover to Katchi Abadi department was also issued after which citizens had their plots on the dykes registered in their names.

The leaders said that irrigation department officers wanted to take advantage of the situation by issuing illegal notices on the pretext of removal of constructions from dykes, which was completely dishonest and illegal.

Published in Dawn, January 9th, 2020