SUKKUR: Several hundred farm workers and land owners who travelled from Balochistan to Sukkur staged a sit-in near Sukkur Barrage on Saturday to demand resumption of adequate water supply to their lands.
The protesters told media personnel that their lands were turning barren due to the severe water shortage persisting for many months together.
The situation, they said, was devastating them financially and threatening their livelihoods.
They kept raising charged slogans intermittently during the course of their sit-in against the officials at the helm of affairs. They demanded immediate release of Balochistan’s share in the Indus water through the Kirthar and Dadu canals.
The protesters said that a famine-like situation prevailed in Balochistan which left them with no other option but to proceed to the barrage and hold a sit-in in order to draw the attention of the authorities concerned to their woes.
They pointed out that they had to travel the long distance and sit under the open sky amid extremely hot weather conditions, just to seek their due share in water. They said their struggle was for their survival as they were not getting water even for drinking and cooking purposes.
Hundreds of thousands of acres in Balochistan were turning barren and animals dying, they moaned.
The protesters said that many families had to migrate to other areas due to the crisis that had been worsening with each passing day.
While visiting the Sukkur Barrage, they observed sufficient water was available here but flows were not being released into the Kirthar and Dadu canals as per the indented quantum.
The protesters vowed to continue their sit-in until water supplies to Balochistan were restored in accordance with their legal entitlement.
Leaders of the Sindh and Baluchistan Abadgar Board were also present at the protest venue.
Meanwhile, three ministers from the Balochistan government visited the protesters, but left without receiving a positive response from the protesters to call off their sit-in.
The visiting ministers, Sadiq Umrani, Mohammad Khan Lehri and Saleem Khoso, were accompanied by Sukkur Commissioner Abid Saleem Qureshi. They held talks with the protesters but failed to persuade them to end the sit-in.
Mr Umrani assured the protesters that their concerns would be conveyed to the relevant authorities.
Speaking to media personnel, Sadiq Umrani alleged that Sindh was not providing Balochistan with its agreed share of water under the 1991 Water Apportionment Accord.
He stated that under the agreement, Balochistan was entitled to 2,400 cusecs through the Kirthar Canal and 6,700 cusecs through the Pat Feeder Canal, but these allocations were not being delivered.
A day earlier, Balochistan Irrigation Minister Mir Sadiq Umrani and his Sindh counterpart Jam Khan Shoro had held an online conversation to review the water supply to Balochistan and inter-provincial water management.
Sindh Irrigation Secretary Zarif Khero and chief engineers of Guddu and Sukkur barrages also joined in the discussion.
Later, Mr Shoro, on a directive of the Sindh chief minister, asked the relevant authorities to ensure full and timely release of Balochistan’s allocated share in accordance with the inter-provincial water agreement.
Published in Dawn, July 19th, 2026
