JHANG, Aug 5: The proposed joint patrolling by police and irrigation personnel along the canals and distributaries to prevent water theft has not commenced in Jhang district.

The patrolling was ordered by the Punjab government to redress grievances of farmers having lands downstream and at tail-ends.

The anti-water theft committee constituted by the government had recommended joint patrolling by the two departments to check the fearless water theft in various parts of the district.

In this connection, the chief engineer, irrigation, Sargodha zone, had written a letter to the DIG, Faisalabad police range, to make necessary arrangements for a joint patrolling to put an end to this nefarious practice being carried out by politically powerful personalities.

The letter also carried the names of those influential people indulging in the crime. Described as, “habitual offenders”, the list included the names of several ex-ministers and parliamentarians.

Acting on the letter, the DIG had directed the Jhang DPO to make necessary arrangements. The DPO, through a letter, ordered the SHOs concerned to coordinate with the irrigation department staff to start joint patrolling.

This had induced the affected farmers to start thinking optimistically about the prospects of water being allowed to reach their fields, down at the tails. But so far this has proved nothing more than a hallucination and their farms continue to remain dry and starved of the canal water.

A union council nazim belonging to the tail area told this correspondent that the irrigation department staff was a collaborate in the cases of water theft and it was with their connivance that the bigwigs of the area were perpetrating this crime.

In this regard, he (the UC nazim) particularly blamed the sub-engineer posted at Shah Jewna canal rest house, who allegedly sells canal water at a very exorbitant price to the farmers living downstream.

He also alleged that the sub-engineer had a few months back caused a breached in a farm to market road, running along the main canal, very close to the Shah Jewna rest house, to allow the water flow from a cut in the canal to irrigate the fields of a multimillionaire businessman.

The matter was reported to the higher authorities but no action was taken. The earth-filled breach in the road has still not been metalled and is an ample testimony to the apathy of the authorities, the farmers of the downstream areas demand some immediate action by the authorities to ensure flow of water to their fields.