LARKANA, July 2: Hundreds of farmers in Larkana, Warah and Garilo took out processions on Sunday in protest against shortage of irrigation water.

In Larkana, about 300 farmers from Bero Chandio, Gharwah, Seventh Mile, Ghari and other villages held a demonstration at the Shaikh Zayed colony chowk.

Baqar Jagirani and Ali Madad Umarani led the protesters.

The protesters pelted vehicles with stones, smashed traffic signals, pulled down sign boards and burnt tyres on the road brining traffic to a halt.

They said that the delay in release of water into the Rice canal would cause their recently planted paddy seedlings to wither but irrigation officials did not care.

They said that the officials had turned a blind eye to their problem. The protestors could not suppress their anger when they saw the executive engineer of the Rice canal who had come to pacify them.

They encircled his vehicle but the engineer smelling danger sped it away.

In Warah, an all-party conference participated by Pakistan People’s Party, Awami Tehrik, Sindh Taraqqi Pasand Party, Jamait Ulema-i-Islam and other parties expressed concern over the water shortage and held irrigation officials responsible for the crisis.

The meeting said that the farmers had prepared paddy seedlings and levelled their lands on the assurance that they would be provided water in time.

The meeting formed a committee headed by PPP MPA Najam Abro to plead framers’ case and announced a big rally and sit-in on the Indus Highway in Wagan to register their protest.

A large number of growers carrying banners and placards staged a procession and assembled at the Fazal Rahoo Chowk, where local leaders, MPA Najamuddain Abro, Manan Chandio, Murad Chandio, Ali Athar Abro and Abu Jibran Chutto criticised irrigations officials. Framers staged a separate demonstration led by Farooque Jatoi, Garilao Nazim Jabbar Bughio and naib nazim at the Rice canal bridge near Garilo.

The protestors from Garilo, Mehrab Sandelo and other adjacent villages urged irrigation authorities to release water into the Rice canal to save their paddy.