THATTA, March 26: Rejecting a propaganda campaign that the Indus water is wasted in the sea, experts have said instead over 40 million acre feet of the river water are wasted due to faulty irrigation system.

The experts were speaking at a seminar on "Save Indus Delta" held here on Thursday. Pakistan Fisherfolk Forum chairman Mohammad Ali Shah said non-release of water downstream Kotri for the last couple of years had increased graph of salinity in Thatta and Badin districts.

He said over 1.2 million acres of fertile land had so far been inundated by the sea water. Mr Shah said thousands of acres of forest along the banks of Indus river and mangrove forest had also been destroyed due to unavailability of water in the Indus delta.

He suggested a joint struggle by non-governmental organisations and political parties to save the Indus delta from further devastation. Other speakers were of the unanimous view that about 40 MAF water goes waste due to faulty irrigation system of the country.

They said instead of constructing more dams, irrigation system should be improved to save water from wastage. They said the Kalabagh dam which would cost Rs600 billion was proposed under a conspiracy by vested interests.

The speakers said water was the matter of life and death for the people of Sindh who depended on agriculture. They said recent study on downstream Kotri by the parliamentary committee could never be considered in the interest of Sindh.

They said the 1991 Water Accord was violated and the rulers had never bothered to care about the inhabitants who became shelterless after the construction of Tarbela and Mangla dams.

They said Wapda's vision-2025 was nothing but a pre-planned conspiracy to ruin Sindh and usurp its resources. The speakers included Mustafa Ujjan, Ayub Shaikh, Gulab Shah, Shafi Murgar, Saeed Baloch and Hanif Kharai.

BOOKED: Residents of Gujo Town, including Nazim and Naib Nazim, were booked by the Thatta police for staging a demonstration against Hesco authorities in Thatta.