HYDERABAD: After a lapse of an entire month, Sindh government finally notified on Friday a committee of irrigation experts for re-examining all direct outlets (DOs) of Rohri Canal in line with Sindh High Court’s directives.

The notification was issued only after tail-end growers impressed upon Sindh Chief Secretary Mumtaz Ali Shah to form the committee through a notification in compliance with orders of a division bench of the Hyderabad circuit of the SHC comprising Justices Salahuddin Panhwar and Adnan Iqbal Chaudhry.

According to the Aug 30 notification, the committee comprised Mukhtiar Abro, superintending engineer of Rohri Canal; Zareef Khero, project director of Chotiari Dam; Mansoor Memon, director of Nara Canal Area Water Board, and Prof Dr Kamran Ansari of Mehran University of Engineering and Technology (MUET) Jamshoro.

The committee as per its terms of reference (ToRs) would examine modules of all watercourses and all direct outlets of Rohri Canal from Sukkur to Khairpur Gamboh and Tando Mohammad Khan subdivisions.

Govt took entire month to comply with SHC orders on direct outlets

The case in question was fixed for hearing on Sept 6 in SHC. A number of tail-end growers had filed petitions in the court, seeking water supplies for their farmlands.

“We met the chief secretary on Friday and then the notification was issued. The committee as per court’s order is to submit its report within two months. The notification was not issued until Aug 30 when we met the CS,” said Pir Bux Hashmani, one of the petitioners.

He and Karamulalh Saand, both tail-end growers of Rohri Canal, met the CS and apprised him of the unusual delay in the issuance of notification. Mr Hashmani is president of Tail Abadgar Tanzeem, Khairpur Gamboh subdivision of Rohri Canal. The massive canal system branches out from Sukkur Barrage on the left bank of Indus River and feeds lands up to Badin district after covering a huge distance.

“We approached Inspector General of Police (IGP) Sindh in the light of the Aug 30 order passed on a petition (Saleem Leghari vs SE Rohri Canal) seeking provision of police assistance to magistrates and engineers concerned for removal of illegal lift machines, pipes, modules etc from canals in question,” he said.

The court order requires senior superintendents of police of Sukkur, Khairpur Mirs, Naushahro Feroze, Sanghar, Matiari, Mirpurkhas, Hyderabad, Tando Mohammad Khan, Tando Allahyar and Badin to provide escort to magistrates and engineers in this regard.

Water flows in tail-end areas of Badin have not improved yet as irrigation authorities claim they have reduced flows in Rohri Canal as a precautionary measure due to ongoing monsoon season and ongoing rains.

“Net result of the reduction in water flows is that our areas are severely affected,” said Mr Hashmani. Even when the river was having medium floods a couple of weeks back the land in Khairpur Gamboh subdivision was thirsting for water. Actually, irrigation authorities were forced to reduce water flows during floods as the river deposited massive silt in canals, he said.

Karamullah Saand said that he was told by the engineer concerned that modules’ dimensions in Naseer Canal division — last of Rohri Canal system’s five divisions — had been corrected. “But we can verify it only after Rohri Canal gets full supplies. If we get water supplies without any rotation programme that means that modules’ dimensions have been corrected,” he said.

Irrigation department officers had informed the court that they had repeatedly requested deployment of Rangers but despite requests they were not deployed and grievance of tail-enders remained unattended.

Published in Dawn, September 1st, 2019