DADU, Feb 2: Farmers from Dadu, Johi and Sehwan talukas have appealed to the president to direct the Sindh chief minister to constitute a committee under the supervision of the provincial irrigation secretary to ensure judicious distribution of water in their areas.

The appeal was made by a group of affected farmers while talking to journalists at the press club here on Wednesday.

Growers from areas along the Chhinni, Lakha, Pahore, Thariri, Mir Mohammad and Begodero channels originating from the Johi branch canal, Aslam, Suleman and others, complained that the channels had been lying dry for four months and the farmers had not been able to cultivate wheat and cotton crops on 7,000 acres of land.

They alleged that the irrigation officials demanded Rs80,000 to Rs90,000 to ensure uninterrupted water supply to a watercourse in a crop season and if any farmer refused to pay the bribe, fake cases of water theft were registered against them.

A farmer of Pir Gunio channel originating from the Dadu canal, Ghulam Sarwar, said that the irrigation officials released undue share of water to the land of influential landlords at the upper stretch of the canal while small growers were deprived of their share.

He complained that 16 kilometres of the Pir Gunio channel had dried up and his 70 acres of land could not be cultivated during the current season. A tail-end farmer of the Pir Gunio channel, Haji Ahmed Solangi, complained that due to non-availability of water, his 80 acres of land had remained barren in the season. He added that 100 farmers of the waterway had not cultivated 2,000 acres of land due to water shortage.

A farmer of the Dubi channel, Syed Hussain Shah, who is nazim of Dadu-4 union council, complained that the irrigation officials had suspended water supply to the channel for four months and he had been unable to cultivate 300 acres of land.

Another grower of the waterway alleged that the irrigation officials diverted water share of the Dubi channel to the Jagir channel. The farmers of the Upper Noor Wah, Noor Muhammad and Habib Rehman Shaikh, said that 7,000 acres of land had remained barren in the command area of the waterway which, according to them, was lying dry for three years.

Farmers of the Talti, Bumbha, Phakka and Khudabad channels, originating from the Dadu Canal, complained that 7,000 acres of land had been badly affected by water shortage in their areas as unfair distribution of water continued there.

When contacted, the in-charge of the district irrigation cell, Ayaz said that on Wednesday 6.2 feet water had been released into the Johi branch canal and water flow in the Dadu Canal had also improved, adding that water position in the tributaries of the canals would shortly improve.