KARACHI: Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah has decided to impose complete ban on the cultivation of rice in 13 districts on the left bank of Indus River and advised growers to opt for other Kharif crops in place of paddy.

The chief minister said at a high profile meeting attended by Federal Minister for Water Resources Syed Khurshid Shah, provincial ministers Manzoor Wassan, Sharjeel Inam Memon, Syed Nasir Shah, Jam Ikram, Chief Secretary Sohail Rajput, Secretary to CM Raheem Shaikh, Irrigation Secretary Sohail Qureshi, Agriculture Aijaz Mahesar, commissioners of Sukkur and Mirpurkhas, Mustafa Phul and Shafiq Mahesar and deputy commissioners held here on Tuesday that the ban had been imposed on rice cultivation in Ghotki, Sukkur, Khairpur, Sanghar, Mirpurkhas, Umerkot, Shaheed Benazirabad, Naushahro Feroze, Matiari, Hyderabad, Tando Allahyar, Tando Mohammad Khan (partially), and Badin (partially).

Mr Shah directed the deputy commissioners concerned to assign duties to assistant commissioners, mukhtiarkars and revenue officials to persuade growers to sow other Kharif crops in place of paddy, which had been banned.

The chief minister directed Senior Member of the Sindh Board of Revenue to issue a notification under the West Pakistan Rice (Restrictions On Cultivation) Ordinance, 1959, imposing a complete ban on rice cultivation for the year 2023 in the areas irrigated by perennial canals of Ghotki Feeder, Rohri Canal, Nara Canal and Khairpur West & East feeders.

Meanwhile, Mr Shah directed the irrigation department to release water in time so that growers on the left bank of the river could grow other crops.

The meeting discussed issues of waterloggedness and increasing water table along the left bank of the Indus in post-flood period and observed that the issue of waterloggedness had plagued the province for decades. The situation had further been aggravated by recent floods which had further increased the water table, it said.

Published in Dawn, May 10th, 2023