HYDERABAD, July 20: The Sindh Chamber of Agriculture on Sunday blamed inefficiency of Irrigation Department officials for persistent water shortage in the province even after enormous increase in water level in the River Indus.

The chamber’s president Syed Qamaruzzaman Shah said at the chamber’s weekly meeting that although the river was flowing to its full capacity the water was not being released into the channels and they were running dry.

The meeting blamed the officials’ inefficiency for nagging water shortage problem and said the growers were crying hoarse for water but they received nothing.

The meeting demanded that the Sindh government award exemplary punishment to inefficient and corrupt officials and ensure that water was released into all the channels.

The government’s indifference towards agriculture sector had rendered the sector like an old widow about whom nobody cares, the meeting observed.

The meeting said that said that lawlessness and unemployment had attained alarming proportions in rural areas in the wake of destruction of agriculture sector.

The growers complained that dealers had disappeared fertilisers from the open market and were selling the same in black-market to fleece poor growers.

The meeting demanded that the government ensure availability of fertilisers in the open market and reiterated that the sugar mills should be directed to clear cane growers’ outstanding dues without further delay.

The meeting said that Rohri Canal and Kotri Barrage should be desilted and their embankments should be reinforced to prevent a possibility of breach. The cooperative banks should be reactivated and the growers should be extended loans through cooperative societies.

Mir Murad Ali Talpur, Dr Shahnawaz Shah, Mir Imdad Ali Talpur, Mohammad Khan Sarejo, Nawab Ghulam Qadir Laghari and a number of growers attended the meeting.

engineer relieved: The Sindh irrigation secretary — responding to the protests of growers of Shahdadkot, particularly the Qubo Saeed Khan area — relieved the Syed Noor Shah of the charge of North Western Canal and increased water flow from 1.5 feet to two feet in Saifullah Magsi branch canal on Sunday, reports our Larkana correspondent.

Sahfqat Hussain Wadho was made the engineer of North Western Canal who has taken over the charge.

The growers were protesting in Shahdadkot, Qubo Saeed Khan and Katchi pul when the secretary irrigation Sindh Shuja Ahmed Junejo arrived at the irrigation rest house in Shahdadkot on the instructions of MNA Faryal Talpur.

A large number of growers, led by Sindh Abadgar Board leader Ishaq Mughairi, had already gathered at the rest house. They complained against the engineer Syed Noor Shah for allegedly selling water.

Due to acute shortage of irrigation water in Saifullah Magsi branch canal and the SKT branch canal which irrigate 1,75,000 acreas of land paddy seedlings hatcheries were dying, they said. They said 20 tributaries originating from both the branches had almost no water to irrigate the land prepared for transplantation of paddy.

They also called for a probe into the rehabilitation and strengthening work of Flood Protective Bund (FP Bund) which was damaged during last year’s floods. The substandard work done on the F.P.Bund, they said, would not withstand any massive onslaught of the flood and torrential rains. The rehabilitation work was carried out at a cost of Rs2.8 million, Mughiri said.

The secretary told them that Chief Engineer Right Bank would conduct an inquiry into the matter while Syed Noor Shah was relieved of his charges on Sunday.

The secretary asked the irrigation staff to maintain two feet water flow at the gate of Saifullah Magsi branch ensuring reasonable water to the small channels so that maximum paddy transplantation could be done.

When contacted, Mughairi told Dawn that new Chief Engineer of Right Bank Agha Aijaz Pathan would take over on Monday.

He said that secretary also visited Katchi Pul and met the protesting growers. He assured them of smooth supply of water and appealed them to call-off the strike.