GROWERS in Sindh are having a hard time again. The farmers on the left bank of Indus in lower Sindh region have been hit by a spell of heavy rains that have washed away a significant part of standing crops of paddy, cotton, fodder, chilly and vegetables.

The downpour that started on August 11 continued for three days without any break, resulting in an emergency situation in Mirpurkhas, Badin and Tando Mohammad Khan districts. Mithi — the headquarter of desert district of Tharparkar — received record rainfall of 438mm and the coastal district of Badin 321mm.

The area hit by downpour is known for cotton production. Farmers had extensively sown cotton here during this Kharif as they had received good price of the produce last year.

Visits to the fields indicate that cotton crop is still in good condition in rain-affected districts. However, the rain water that has accumulated in the fields cannot be drained out for at least two weeks. Only well to do growers will be able to drain out water from their fields and save their crop. The small and poor growers risk losing some of their harvest. The standing rainwater could destroy cotton plant with weak roots.

Paddy is grown on the left bank districts of Thatta, Badin and Tando Mohammad Khan. Fodder and vegetables particularly onion and tomato nurseries have suffered badly by rains. Sugarcane has also submerged but it is hoped the crop will survive.

However, cotton is the worst hit.

Farmers believe that rainwater drains - neglected by SIDA and irrigation department since long — are in bad shape. As their banks were not maintained, water overflowed at several places, inundated crop fields and devastated agricultural lands.

A series of network of big or small drains in lower Sindh, according to farmers, are the major cause of devastations to crops.

Rain-hit cotton farmers say that they were expecting a fairly good crop this season. They had spent Rs83,000 per acre on cotton cultivation, where as on paddy they had incurred a cost of Rs55,000 per acre.

Sindh Abadgar Board (SAB) president Majeed Nizamani says that paddy is grown on 900,000 acres in lower Sindh, cotton on 1.2-1.3 million acres and vegetables on 60,000 acres. “Of them, I can say confidently, vegetables have suffered 100 per cent loss, cotton above 70 per cent and paddy 65 to 70 per cent” in the worst areas. He fears that disease will hit the remaining crop if the government does not take immediate initiative.

“Our initial estimates are that all these crops have suffered badly and the accumulated loss is of Rs44 billion,” he says.

According to Nadeem Qamar, president of Sindh Chamber of Agriculture (SCA), the un-maintained drains had caused more damages than the rains. “These drains fall into saline water drain LBOD and ultimately fall into the sea through another system. But the LBOD — built by Wapda — has a faulty design. It works in the reverse direction during high tide in the sea and causes damage to lands,” he claims.

“Irrigation department has failed to even run its canal system so no one expects it to maintain its rainwater drainage system in rural areas. Losses to cotton, vegetable and fodder are enormous,” he claims.

Farmers usually give cuts to different canals or rainwater drains to divert water from their fields to save their lands from accumulated water. The irrigation authorities say that they had closed canals ahead of rains thus saving their canal system.

Reducing flows in largest canals like the Nara and Rohri of Sukkur barrage all of a sudden is a difficult task and risk of breaches could not be ruled out in such cases, they say.

Mushtaq Nizamani, a grower of paddy and cotton in Badin and Tando Mohammad Khan districts, says he has lost his paddy crop on 800 acres and believes that only five to six per cent may be harvested that too when water recedes. He is of the view that since the irrigation officials closed the canals’ regulators, water disposed of by farmers into them by their lands did not flow downstream.

Five talukas of Mirpurkhas district are badly hit by rains and so are the crops of cotton, chilly and vegetables. According to Mirpurkhas chapter SCA Mir Zafarullah Talpur not rains alone, growers are also responsible for the damages. “Farmers have encroached British-era escape routes of water. In this case water takes its own course at the cost of our lands,” he says while mentioning that crops in Jhuddo, Kot Ghulam Mohammad and Tando Jan Mohammad of Mirpurkhas have been washed away.

The pressure in LBOD is increasing and it is flowing with 15,000 to 16,000 cusecs against its designed capacity of 4000 cusecs, increasing risks to Badin district where it has to cross through before ending in the sea. Irrigation officials are worried over the increasing pressure in the drain and hope that drain water will pass safely to the sea without causing further devastations.

The recent rains have inundated many villages in Badin and Tando Mohammad Khan and the marooned peasants have landed in relief camps. Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani visited the areas last Monday and ordered assessment of damages. He assured the Sindh government of federal help for rehabilitating drains in the area to avoid such losses in future.