HYDERABAD, March 20: Sindh continues to face the acute water shortage on the eve of the world water day, the president of the Sindh Agriculture Forum, Noor Ahmed Nizamani, said on Thursday.
Expressing his shock over the continued water shortage, Mr Nizamani urged the government to tackle the water problem in Sindh and solve farmers’ problems.
He said that the province was not being given its share of irrigation water despite the fact that the Kharif crops sowing season had started while it was over a month away in Punjab.
Describing the denial of the water supply to Sindh unjustifiable in the wake of the recent heavy rains in Punjab and the Northern Areas, he said the Sindh irrigation department had already chalked out a plan to use a large chunk of the Rs10 billion, which it would receive from the federal government, on earthwork.
According to the plan, he said, the Sindh irrigation department would spend Rs7 billion on the earthwork of the Rohri Canal alone.
He said that only two years ago the Sindh irrigation department had prepared a plan of pitching the entire Rohri Canal at an estimated cost of Rs10 million per mile while the entire project was to cost an estimated Rs2 billion.
But that plan, he said, had been scrapped and instead Rs7 billion would now be spent on the earthwork alone.
He demanded of the government to institute an investigation into the matter.
Urging the government to clean debris from the Rohri Canal, he said that it was littered with old abandoned bridges and other objects obstructing the flow of water, adding that weak portions of embankments should be strengthened.
Calling for lining minor waterways, distributaries and watercourses to ensure the optimum and efficient use of water, he said that Abiyana and land tax should be waived keeping in view the acute shortage of water last year.
He also demanded of the government to provide farmers diesel, seeds, chemical fertilizer and other farm inputs at reduced rates.
Mr Nizamani urged the Sindh government to emulate Punjab government, which had acquired Rs26 billion from the Asian Development Bank for assisting farmers.
He suggested that the Sindh government should approach the ADB to obtain at least Rs15 billion and provide support to its economically devastated farmers in the form of soft loans, adding that the assistance should be provided to them in the shape of farm inputs at reduced rates.