HYDERABAD, Nov 29: The Sindh Abadgar Board has protested against what it called negative attitude of sugar mill owners and urged the government to take notice of violation of its orders by mill owners.

The board at a meeting held at the residence of Abdul Khaliq Soomro in Tando Mohammad Khan on Monday observed that Rs160 million was outstanding against mill owners for 15 years in the shape of quality premium and other payments.

Board president Abdul Majeed Nizamani presided over the meeting which was attended by sugarcane growers.

The meeting expressed concern over the inordinate delay in the start of sugarcane crushing, saying it would affect wheat cultivation.

It demanded that water should be released to save the sugarcane crop which had not been harvested as yet due to the delay in the start of the crushing season.

It pointed out that due to the negative attitude of mill owners, future cultivation of sugarcane was likely to decrease to a great extent and as a result the government would have to spend a huge amount of foreign exchange on the import of sugar. This would have a devastating effect on the agrarian economy, it observed.

The meeting cautioned the government that due to direct flow of sugar mills’ effluent in drains, many cattle and migratory birds had died and the marine life had been destroyed.

It called upon the government to direct sugar mill owners to install plants for treating effluent.

It appealed to the government to take measures to save the agriculture sector of Sindh and the livelihood of tens of thousands of workers of sugar mills.