LARKANA, March 12: Growers and small landholders in Shahdadkot have accused the revenue officials of collecting taxes despite the fact that their area had been declared a calamity-hit area.

The taluka Nazim of Shahdadkot, Sardar Ali Jarwar, while talking on telephone to this correspondent, on Wednesday accused the local revenue officials of deliberately blocking the notification’s circulation in their respective offices, thereby encouraging the revenue staff to gather taxes.

Ali Nawaz Khawar, one of the local landlords, said that the growers were also been denied of the 30 per cent remission announced by the government last year, adding that they were gearing up their recovery drive despite the government having declared Shahdadkot as a calamity-hit area.

Presently, he said, the entire area is facing an acute water shortage since the beginning of the Rabi season, resulting in sharp decline of the agricultural output.

He said that the saline water from Balochistan was further degrading the area’s farming productivity.