HYDERABAD, Feb 16: The Sindh Minister for irrigation and power, Syed Ali Mir Shah, has proposed inter-provincial dialogue among growers, intellectuals and newsmen to find out the facts about available water supply and its distribution.

This he said while speaking at a growers’ seminar organised by the Sindh Abadgar Board (SAB) at Yousfani Farm near Tando Allahyar on Saturday.

The president of the SAB, Mr Abdul Majeed Nizamani, president, Sindh Chamber of Agriculture, Syed Qamar-uz-Zaman Shah, Dr Zulfiqar Yousfani and other growers demanded proper implementation of the 1991 Water Accord.

They also protested against the arbitrary recovery of land revenue and water charges despite acute water shortage which had led to less sowing of crops in Sindh.

The minister said that the World bank had agreed to provide funds for water course lining and now it was the responsibility of growers to come forward and get their water courses lined.

He said that in this connection farmers should form water users associations to whom the funds would be provided by the government.

Only 25 per cent of the expenditure of water courses including labour charges would be borne by farmers while 75 per cent expenditure would be borne by the government, he said.

About scarp tube-wells, he said that there were 203 tube- wells in Tando Allahyar taluka out of which 180 were functioning while the remaining would be repaired soon and made operational so that the growers could get additional water for their crops.

The Sindh Agriculture Secretary Mr Abdul Rashid Memon in his speech stressed the need for land levelling so that maximum land could be brought under cultivation.

The seminar was largely attended by the growers of Hyderabad, Mirpurkhas and other districts.