HYDERABAD, Feb 19: The Sindh Chamber of Agriculture has expressed concern over alleged secret remodelling of barrages by Punjab with a view to stealing Sindh’s water.

It demanded that the ongoing work of the remodelling of the barrages and on the Kalabagh dam should be stopped forthwith.

A meeting of the chamber held here on Sunday adopted a resolution demanding that the president, prime minister and the Sindh chief minister should stop Punjab from remodelling the barrages.

Syed Qamaruzzaman Shah presided over the meeting which was attended by Mir Murad Ali Talpur, Dr Shahnawaz Shah, Akhund Ghulam Mohammad, Saeen Bux Rind and others.

The meeting was informed that remodelling of the old Thal Canal taking off from the Chenab Barrage had been completed 70 per cent which would irrigate 440,000 acres of land in Mianwali, Bakhar and Layyah districts.

The meeting noted that work on the greater Thal canal was in last stages which would irrigation 1,700,000 acres in Bakhar, Khushab, Layyah, Muzaffarghar and Mianwali districts.

It said that through remodelling of the Taunsa Barrage, its water capacity was being increased from 8,000 cusecs to 14,000 cusecs. In this way, the meeting alleged, Sindh would be deprived of 60,000 cusecs of water by Punjab.

It claimed that despite announcement by President Gen Pervez Musharraf, work on the Kalabagh dam was going on in a clandestine manner. It alleged that during the current financial year, Wapda had spent Rs1.22 billion on the project. It said heavy machinery was being shifted from Tarbela to the Kalabagh dam site and colonies, offices and workshops were also being renovated.

The meeting demanded that Punjab should be stopped from stealing water of Sindh and the ongoing work on the Kalabagh dam should be discontinued.

It further demanded that a delegation of the chamber should be officially sent to visit the aforementioned sites.