HYDERABAD, Jan 26: Sindh Governor Mohammedmian Soomro inaugurated the Phuleli canal extension project, six kilometres off Tando Mohammad Khan, here on Saturday.

Addressing the gathering on the occasion, Mr Soomro said that it was the duty of all and sundry to work in the larger interest of the country and added that if the projects were completed with proper planning and honesty, far better results could be achieved in the development of Pakistan.

He said the present government did not believe in personal interest and it was deciding all matters keeping in view the paramount interests of the country.

He said, the basic purpose of the devolution of power plan was to resolve all the problems at the grassroots level.

He called upon the Zila Nazims and the people to keep an eye on all the development works and keep the government informed about any bottle neck or discrepancies to ensure the quality of work.

He said that if any water courses had been constructed due to wrong planning, the government will certainly review its decisions. He said that it was known to everyone that the province of Sindh was located at the tail-end and therefore, the tail-end growers were facing problems.

He, however, said that due to remodelling and other steps, the situations was likely to improve.

The Sindh governor said that President Gen Pervez Musharraf was himself seized of the problems created by the Right Bank Outfall Drain (RBOD) and added that he had sanctioned Rs14 billion for staring work on the drain to dispose of poisonous water directly into the sea. He said this would save the agricultural land and the crop production will increase.

He said the shortage of water in the country was one of the greatest problem and urged the growers to adopt latest methods of cultivation, level their fields, line their water courses and introduce spur system to save their lands from water-logging and salinity.

The governor also advised the growers to form area water management boards on cooperative basis to involve the community to ensure that government funds were spent in a proper manner and the problems of growers were resolved on self-help basis.

He pointed out that the local people were the best judge of the local problems.

He stressed the need for the constitution of farmers’ organisations and added that this would increase resources and will ensure the expenditure of these resources in a transparent manner for the larger and common interest of the growers.

The Sindh governor directed the officials of the irrigation department to adopt transparency in “Wara Bandi” (water rotation programme) and assured the growers that the officials of the irrigation and agriculture departments will always be there to provide assistance and guidance.

He sternly warned the civil servants that dereliction of duty will not be tolerated.

Earlier, Sindh minister for irrigation and power Syed Ali Mir Shah dwelt at length on the aims and objects of the project and traced the history of Phuleli Canal.

He said that the irrigation system of the province had become outdated and that was the reason that the present government was taking corrective measures on priority basis.

He said that four districts of Sindh namely Thatta, Badin, Hyderabad and Tharparkar will be benefited after the project had been completed.

Earlier, the chief engineer (irrigation) of Kotri Barrage, Mohammad Izhar Khan, briefed the Sindh Governor about the Phuleli canal extension project.

The Zila Nazim of Hyderabad, Dr Makhdoom Rafiquzzaman and Zila Nazim of Badin Sardar Kamal Khan Chang also spoke on the occasion.