HYDERABAD, June 5: A large number of people held a demonstration outside the press club here on Monday in protest against cutting of trees in the Khathar forest. The demonstration was organised by the Green Rural Development.

GRD president Ghulam Hussain Malookani, Ghulam Hyder Khoso and Murtaza Shar demanded that authorities should order an inquiry into the cutting of trees in the forest.

They said that plantation was indispensable to check pollution.

They said that officials concerned should regularly visit forestation projects of forests and check environmental degradation.

They said that instead of planting trees, crops were being cultivated in the forest.

SIDA: Sindh Irrigation and Drainage Authority general manager (transition) Prof Aijaz Qureshi has said that rightful owners of water are farmers.

He said that the farmers can eliminate water theft through their collective efforts.

He urged the farmers to work for success of agricultural reforms.

He was speaking at a training workshop organised by the Social Development Cell of Sida in Tando Mohammad Khan.

He said that 13 channels out of 25 channels of left bank canals had been included in the rehabilitation programme.

He expressed the hope that the next year, all water channels would be included in the rehabilitation programme.

He urged the farming community to get their watercourses lined and also concentrate on laser land levelling and drip sprinkle system.

A member of the Left Bank Canal Area Water Board, Umer Farooq, called upon the farming community to get rid of the irrigation department by implementing agriculture reforms programmes through farmers’ organisations.

He said that farmers should give up dependence on irrigation officials.

Sida training coordinator Ghulam Mustafa Abro said that during the last 30 years, irrigation officials despite allocation of billions of rupees for improvement of the irrigation system had in fact destroyed the whole system.

He said that an amount of Rs5 billion per annum was being spent on the irrigation department but annual income was only Rs1 billion.

He said that more than half of channels had become useless due to neglect.

He said that in order to improve the system, Sida had come into existence and its basic purpose was to make the irrigation system self-sufficient.

Mazhar Essani, Habib Ahmedani and Khalid Pirzado also spoke on the occasion.