HYDERABAD, July 17: The Sindh Chamber of Agriculture (SCA), at its weekly meeting held here on Thursday, demanded that the Sindh government not charge any money from growers for the lining of watercourses as has been done by the Punjab government.

The president of the Sindh Chamber of Agriculture, Syed Qamaruzzaman Shah, presided over the meeting.

It observed that the Punjab government had already issued a notification that no money would be charged from growers for the lining of watercourses.

The meeting demanded that the Sindh government emulate the Punjab government and issue a similar notice and line the watercourses at the government expense.

It pointed out that if the World Bank had placed a condition that 25 per cent of the cost of lining watercourses should be charged from the growers, then the fact that the growers of Sindh had incurred tremendous losses in crop production due to an acute shortage of water should not be overlooked.

Another resolution called upon the irrigation department to release full water in the channels as an abundance of water was available in the river and canals.

It further demanded that the rotation programme should be suspended.

DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS: Brigadier Mohammad Mansoor Aslam on Wednesday met with the district coordination officer, Hyderabad, Mukhtar Ahmed Aziz, and held detailed discussions about the progress of development projects as well as the success of the devolution of power plan.

According to an official handout, Brigadier Aslam stressed the need for providing better civic facilities to the people of Hyderabad, which is the second biggest city of the province.

He said that the irrigation department should be asked to remain vigilant during the monsoon season and take all precautionary measures to protect the life and property of the people during floods. The DCO briefed the brigadier about the development schemes.