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DADU, Oct 11: A large number of employees of irrigation department hired on work-charge basis held a demonstration on Saturday in protest against the executive engineer of irrigation for withholding their salary for past three months.
Led by Asghar Solangi and Riaz Ghaloo, the protesters said that they were working as Beldar at a waterway, which was fed by Dadu Canal, and the engineer had withheld their salary.
Asghar Solangi alleged that senior officers of the irrigation department had embezzled millions of rupees of funds allocated for repairs of canals and waterways.
Riaz Ghaloo alleged that the irrigation engineer of southern division had embezzled salary of the employees working on work-charge basis. He said that he had visited the office of irrigation engineer several times to talk on the salary issue but he had always behaved in a rude manner and refused to pay the salary.
He appealed to the chief minister and irrigation minister to order an inquiry into the salary issue and threatened that the employees would observe hunger strike at the shrine of Benazir Bhutto if they did not take any action.
PROTEST: A large number of growers held a demonstration on Saturday in protest against unfair distribution of water at the tail-end waterways fed by Dadu Canal.
Haji Suleman Khan who led the protest alleged that the irrigation engineer Bhai Khan Lakho had embezzled millions of rupees of funds set aside for desilting programme.
The irrigation officials had fixed Rs130,000 per watercourse in Dadu irrigation subdivision and unfair distribution of water by executive engineer had badly affected paddy crop on around 200,000 acres.
Nazan, a grower, demanded that President Asif Ali Zardari direct the provincial irrigation minister to hold an impartial inquiry into the alleged embezzlement of millions of rupees and unfair distribution of water.
KIDNAPPED: One Zulfiqar Ali Chandio was kidnapped by unidentified armed men in Ahmed Ali Mohalla of Mehar town on Saturday.
Aftab Chandio, brother of Zulfiqar, said that the kidnappers took away his brother when was going to meet his friends.
The SHO of Mehar claimed that the kidnapping might be an offshoot of a dispute between two groups of Chandio clan. Police were investigating the matter, he added.
