MIRPURKHAS: Scores of farmers blocked the Sindhri-Sanghar road on Tuesday in protest against acute shortage of irrigation water in Jamrao Canal.

The protesters’ leaders Jalil Jinjhi, Jumman Shah and Jalal Marri alleged that irrigation officials allowed water theft after receiving heavy bribe and thus created artificial water shortage, which was affecting agriculture of small farmers. Their standing crops of cotton, chili, onion, sugar cane and other vegetables were withering without water, they said.

They deplored that their distributaries had been closed under rotation programme and they were supplied water for only a week after three weeks’ interval.

They said the irrigation officials and officers even tempered watercourses to facilitate water theft. No water was being supplied to tail-end and their crops were getting destroyed, they said.

Later, police and irrigation department officials held negotiations with the protesters and persuaded them after three hours to disperse peacefully on assurance that they would soon be supplied water.

Published in Dawn, May 1st, 2024