MIRPURKHAS: Despite government’s ban on cultivation of paddy in Mirpurkhas division influential landlords and political figures have cultivated the rice on their big farmlands without any fear of law as they knew nobody could dare uproot their crop, according to Tail-end Abadgar Association Nara Canal Circle president Mohammad Yousuf Rajput and general secretary Ausaf Shah.

They told this correspondent on Monday at a protest camp outside local press club that due to acute shortage of water in the tail-end areas of Nara Canal command the government had banned cultivation of paddy as it required more water than other crops but influential and political figures of the area cared less of the ban and cultivated the paddy on their lands.

They urged authorities concerned to take notice of the violation of the ban and order paddy crop sown over thousands of acres removed without delay.

The irrigation officers were selling their share of water to these influential persons enabling them to grow paddy while their area were facing shortage of even drinking water and populations in tail-end areas in Mirpurkhas, Mirwah Gorchani, Digri, Jhuddo, Naukot, Kot Ghulam Muhammad, Sindhri, Kunri subdivision etc. were compelled to buy drinking water.

The cultivated crops of cotton, chili, onion, sugar cane and vegetables in these areas were drying up causing huge damage to growers, they said.

They said that they had been staging protest sit-in for the past 15 days but no officer of the departments concerned had sincerely assured them of supply of water and warned they would continue the protest campaign till supply of water to their areas without any delay.

They urged Chief Justice of Pakistan and other authorities to save their cultivated crops from getting destroyed by taking drastic measures and suspending corrupt irrigation officers involved in selling water.

High profile inquiries be launched against them and they be awarded exemplary punishment, they said.

Published in Dawn, June 4th, 2024