HYDERABAD, Feb 12 The tail-end farmers of Rahuki and Husri Shakh (canals) have threatened to take extreme steps if water is not released immediately in the channels to save their wheat crop from being destroyed.

Speaking at a press conference held at the press club here on Thursday, leaders of the farmers' action committee, Syed Noor Ahmed Shah, Abdul Rehman Khoso, Abdul Sattar Thebo and others appealed to the Sindh chief minister and the provincial irrigation minister to take notice of the plight of the tail-end growers of Rahuki and Husri channels who according to them, were being deprived of their due share of irrigation water.

They said that even drinking water was not available to a population of 15,000 and the wheat crop of the tail-end growers was being destroyed.

They demanded that watercourses of influential landlords whose lands were located at the heads of two channels should be corrected, illegal pipes and lifts should be removed, size of the pipes should be ensured according to the original specifications, rotation programme should be strictly observed in the Hyderabad branch watercourses and strict action should be taken against those irrigation officials found involved in corrupt practices or favouritism.

The leaders of the committee said that the problems facing the tail-end growers should be resolved permanently.

The growers urged the irrigation minister to personally visit the area to take stock of the situation himself. They warned that if they were not provided with their due share of water, they would be left with no choice but to resort to extreme measures.