HYDERABAD, Aug 24: A retired engineer and member of the technical advisory committee, irrigation department, Sindh, Ali Gohar, has said it is due to illegal outlets that tail-end growers are not receiving water.

Speaking at a news conference at the press club here on Saturday, Gohar said canals were presently flowing to their full capacity but the tail-end growers were still not getting their share of water.

He said that under the law, big canals could not be treated as minors and no direct connections from big canals could be given between one cross regulator and the other.

Gohar, however, said hundreds of direct connections had been given from big canals, resulting in acute shortage of irrigation water at the tail end.

He demanded a detailed inquiry as to why the direct connections had been given.

He said the designing of the canals had been disrupted by the so-called engineers.

About breaches in canals, Gohar said due to the acute shortage of water over the years, embankments had become dry and rendered weak.

He, however, refused to accept that this could be the cause for the breach in the Rohri Canal, saying embankments of the canal were sandy and technically no leakages could take place.

He did not rule out the possibility that the Rohri Canal breach could be the result of sabotage.

Gohar said that according to rules, strict vigilance had to be maintained on embankments during the Abkalani season and added that if the rules were followed, the question of any breach simply did not arise.