HYDERABAD, Dec 1: The executive committee of Sindh Abadgar Board (SAB) at a meeting here on Saturday expressed grave concern over the acute shortage of irrigation water, low prices of agricultural produce and decreasing per acre crops yield in the province.

Abdul Majeed Nizamani presided over the meeting which observed that during the past two years, continued shortage of irrigation water had adversely affected crop production and the government had failed to fix judicious support prices for major cash crops.

The meeting regretted that the government had also failed to purchase the crops and its procurement policy specially regarding wheat, rice and cotton had greatly disappointed the growers.

The meeting observed that to meet the shortage of water, the growers had installed 20,000 tubewells without soil testing as a result of which they had not only suffered huge losses but the crop production had also received a tremendous setback due to the use of brackish water which had also destroyed the fertility of land.

The meeting regretted that on the one hand the farming community had all but lost its only source of livelihood due to inordinate increase in the cost of production and on the other the government had resorted to uncalled for and unrealistic taxation on the hapless growers.

The meeting feared that if the present state of affairs was allowed to continue for the next two years, the agrarian economy of Sindh will be totally destroyed.

The SAB demanded of the provincial, federal and district governments to tackle the water crisis on war footings by evolving scientific methods for the use of water.

It suggested that a comprehensive survey should be carried out to find out underground sweet water reservoirs and loans should be granted to the farming community recoverable in easy instalments and at concessional rates to install tube-wells.

It further demanded that GST on irrigation water, pesticides, agricultural implements and electricity should be totally abolished.

The meeting deplored that while the agriculture sector of Sindh was going down the hill, the government was only interested in increasing revenue.

To save the agrarian economy of the province from total destruction, the growers organization demanded that possible concessions should be given in respect of land tax and agriculture income tax.

The meeting suggested that the government should evolve methods with the help of which maximum production could be had through minimum use of irrigation water and crops requiring less water should be introduced.

DEMO: The activists of Jeay Sindh Students Federation (JSSF) and Sindh People’s Students Federation (SB) staged protest demonstration outside the Hyderabad press club here on Saturday against the alleged torture of political prisoners in central prison Hyderabad and shifting of 52 political prisoners to Karachi prisons.

Speaking at the rally, Suryah Sindhi of JSSF and Khadim Hussain Umrani of SPSF (SB) accused the Hyderabad jail superintendent Malik Altaf Awan of committing inhuman atrocities against the political prisoners, Zafar Korejo, Ameer Bux Umrani, Akhtar Mallano, Ghaffar Chandio, Faqir Inayat Heesbani and others.

They alleged that more than one hundred prisoners had been locked up in solitary confinement ward and added that the condition of Zafar Korejo and Ameer Bux Umrani, who had been transferred to Karachi jail, was very serious.

The student leaders said that nobody was allowed to meet them in jail.

They said that search operation in jail had been conducted to extort money from the prisoners for Eid celebration.

They warned if the jail superintendent Altaf Awan, his deputy Eijaz Haider and other jail staff involved in torture of political prisoners were not suspended in five days and the transferred prisoners were not brought back, they would observe hunger strike unto death outside the Hyderabad press club.

RALLY: The activists of Sindh Green Development Organization staged a rally outside the Hyderabad press club here on Saturday to create awareness among the masses about Aids.

Speaking at the rally, Dr Karam Ali Rustamani said that the epidemic had claimed the lives of 20 million people including women and children in the world.

He said the people of developing countries were more vulnerable to HIV infections and added that Aids was undermining economic stability.

He claimed that this year 60 million people had been affected by Aids throughout the world and added that in Pakistan, 1,751 patients of Aids had been registered.

He stressed the need for creating awareness among the people against this fatal disease.