HYDERABAD, March 5: The industrial sector of Kotri and Hyderabad will suffer irreparable losses and the livelihoods of thousands of workers will be affected, leading to a law and order situation , if water supply from the KB Feeder and the Akram Wah is delayed any longer.

These apprehensions were voiced at a meeting held here on Thursday between irrigation department spokesman Mohammad Ali Shaikh and the industrialists of Kotri and Hyderabad at the secretariat of the Hyderabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

Mr Shaikh said water supply from the canals would remain suspended up to March 25 as these canals were being de-silted while adding that the scheme would be completed in three years.

He said water supply to the industrial units could only be made possible if a regulatory system was set up to reduce the water pressure. However, he made it clear that this was beyond his power which was vested only with the irrigation secretary.

Voicing its fears, the HCCI said if water supply to the units was not restored, the country would have to face huge losses in foreign exchange as the industrialists would be unable to meet their export commitments.

The Chamber also appealed to the Sindh government to have the regulatory system set up at the two canals to ensure continuous water supply to the industrial units.

HUNGER STRIKE: A large number of people, who had been displaced by ethnic riots from 1988-90, staged a token hunger strike outside the press club on Friday against the government failure to rehabilitate them. They said the government had allocated 60 acres land in Sehrish Nagar phase-II for the dispossessed but the area had been occupied by land grabbers.