BADIN, Aug 22: Rice crop in the district has sustained 60 per cent loss due to water shortage and a pest attack, revealed a survey conducted by this correspondent on Friday.
Farmers lost their seedlings over a huge area in the district's five talukas due to non-availability of water. They cultivated a second paddy crop on 150,000 acres but it too was reduced to 50 per cent following a pest attack and continuing water shortage.
However, the district officer, agricultural, Ali Hassan Arain, claimed that the department had achieved 87 per cent paddy sowing target as the crop had been sown over 146,000 acres of land in Badin.
Farmers Mohammad Haroon Gopang, Mohammad Saleh and others said the pest attack had damaged their already weak crops. They demanded that the government should announce a new package for farmers as the package announced by President Gen Pervez Musharraf, providing concession on loans to farmers, was not sufficient.
They said the government should waive off loans up to Rs50,000 and compensate farmers for their damaged crops.
WORKSHOP: District Nazim Kamal Khan Chang has said the planning and development department in the devolved setup is facing difficulties and the district staff is not well versed in preparation of the Annual Development Programme due to lack of training.
He was speaking at the concluding session of a three-day planning and budgetary training workshop, organized for EDOs and DOs by the National Commission for Human Development at the local gymkhana on Saturday.
The nazim stressed the need for motivating people to form citizens' community boards. Deploring the low standard of education and poor performance of the health sector, he said NCHD and education officials should improve the quality of education instead of opening more schools.
NCHD representative Khan Mohammad Bozdar said the commission had initiated many programmes to improve functioning of district institutions. He said priority was being given to the education sector and poverty alleviation. Later, the nazim distributed certificates among workshop participants.
SEMINAR: The Pakistan Society of Gastroenterology, in collaboration with the Pakistan Medical Association, Badin, organized a seminar on "Hepatitis: Prevention is Better than Cure" at the PMA House here on Saturday.
Speakers at the seminar held medical practitioners, quacks and paramedical staff responsible for spreading the disease through frequent use of injections. Dr G. N. Mughal said the use of unsterilized syringes, which caused hepatitis-B and C, was not only reported from Pakistan but also from China, India, Thailand and other countries.
He said the World Health Organization had formed the Safe Injection Global Network to educate people about the use of syringes. Dr Mughal urged doctors to avoid administering injections to patients for minor ailments. He said disposable syringes should not be reused.
Dr Mohammad Haroon of the Prevention Society of Hepatitis and its general-secretary Abdul Hameed Junejo said 15 per cent people in Badin were carriers of hepatitis-B. The president, Pakistan Medial Association, Badin,Dr Mohammad Hassan Memon, called upon people to get themselves vaccinated against the disease.
A team of experts from the Aga Khan University Hospital Karachi, comprising Dr Ghulam Nabi Kakepoto, assistant professor hematology, Dr Khalid Mumtaz, consultant, and Dr Faisal, also delivered lectures at the seminar.