THATTA, Oct 25: Notices have been served to several politicians and landlords of Thatta district by the irrigation officials for recovering the water charges of their fish ponds.

These notices have been served under the directives of the provincial minister for irrigation, Syed Aijaz Ali Shah Shirazi.

The notices have been served to Ali Sher Brohi, Ghulam Mustafa Sarki, Mohammad Ismail Sarki of the PPP, Ibrahim Soho (district convener, MQM), Mumtaz Ali Memon (landlord), and the president, Shehr Sudhar Committee, Thatta.

Terming the notices as political victimization the victims told newsmen that there were at least 6,000 fish ponds in Thatta district but the minister had opted to victimize his opponents only.

They alleged that in violation of the rules and regulations of the irrigation and highway departments, the minister

and his brother, the district Nazim, had dug a huge water reservoir adjacent to the main protective bund of the Indus River and the main Thatta-Sujawal highway in Sujawal sub-division.

They said that they had dug a number of ponds within the embankment of the Indus River and filled it with irrigation water.

The landlords, feudal lords, and bureaucrats have filled their private ponds with irrigation water which would deprive the locals of their share of irrigation water.

All the influential people have good terms with the Shirazis who hold a lot of political clout.

The private ponds including Teemani, Muradpur, Kangan Khadi, Khadi Bothero, Marho Boola Khan, and Shah Bunder cover an area over thousands of acres.