MIRPURKHAS: Hundreds of growers staged protests in Mirpurkhas and Badin districts on Monday against acute shortage of water and its theft by influential landlords in connivance with irrigation department officers, calling upon the Chief Justice of Pakistan to take notice of the crisis.

In Mirpurkhas, growers whose land lie at the tail-end of the Nara Canal marched in a rally to the office of the director of the Nara Canal where they staged a sit-in and called for an end to political interference in the irrigation system.

The protesters’ leaders Mir Aijaz Talpur, Zahid Noon, Chodhry Sohail and others told journalists at the press club before marching to the director’s office that there was enough water in the irrigation system but influential landlords in collusion with officers were stealing it at the expense of tail-enders.

They said that tail-ends of six subdivisions of Sindhri, Nabisar, Samaro, Digri, Naokot and Kot Ghulam Mohammad of the Nara Canal were the worst hit by shortages and alleged that the rotation programme was not enforced on the distributaries irrigating land of influential political personalities.

They said the unabated water theft was leading to destruction of their crops and depriving people of drinking water. Influential persons had got posted officers of their choice in the irrigation department to ensure their farms always received water, they said.

They said that even the member of area’s water board who represented farmers did nothing to improve the situation. When Ibrahim Dawoodpota and a few other officers took action to supply water till the tail-end they were immediately replaced, they said.

They demanded the Sindh chief minister, director general of Rangers, irrigation minister and chief secretary ensure fair distribution of water and take action against corrupt officials.

BADIN: Farmers resumed their protest in Malkani Sharif town on Monday against the nagging water crisis by staging a demonstration and sit-in on the Pangrio-Jhudho road.

The protesters’ leaders Pir Fayaz Hussain Shah Rashidi, Malik Tarique Mehmood Arain and others told journalists that influential landlords mostly sitting in parliaments were stealing water through illegal direct outlets, pipes and lift machines in connivance with officials.

They said that persistent shortage of water had rendered barren thousands of acres of fertile land forcing people to migrate to other areas in search of livelihood.

They demanded the chief justice of Supreme Court take notice of their protest and vowed to continue agitation till they were provided water.

Published in Dawn, June 2nd, 2015

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