HYDERABAD: Already feeling the pinch of food insecurity due to COVID-19, the agricultural economy of Sindh is additionally suffering from flood which has damaged standing crops in most parts of the province, especially Karachi, Thatta, Sujawal, Badin, Mirpurkhas, Thar, Umarkot, Sanghar, Tando Allahyar, Tando Muhammad Khan, Matiari, Dadu, Hyderabad, Jamshoro and Larkana.
Representatives of various farmers said that the recent monsoon spell had caused huge loss to the Kharif crops, especially cotton, chili, onions and some other vegetables.
Almost 80 to 90 percent of the cotton crop and 90 to 95 percent of vegetable crops, i.e. chili and onions, have been destroyed completely.
According to Zubair Tapur, about 90 percent of cotton crop in Mirpurkhas, 95 percent in Badin, 85 percent in Tharparkar, 90 percent in Umarkot, 50 percent each in Tando Allahyar and Tando Muhammad Khan has been damaged while 10 percent of sugarcane crop in Mirpurkhas, 20 percent in Tharparkar, 10 percent in Umarkot, 10 percent in Tando Muhammad Khan and 15 percent in Badin have been damaged.
The total damage to the rice crop in Badin has been recorded at 60 percent while 40 percent in Tando Muhammad Khan.
Javed Arain, MD of Dhoom Seeds, said that cotton, chili and tomato crops in lower Sindh have been completely destroyed.
Majeed Ahmedani, a farmer, and Allah Dino Chandio added that most of the destructions in lower Sindh could be attributed to faulty planning and the design and construction of the Left Bank Out-Fall Drain (LBOD) project.
The LBOD, which is a lengthy system of drains having different components, was completed in 1997.
It has a capacity of 4,600 cusecs of water with a provision of certain amount of rainfall.
They said that neither the potential environmental impacts nor the potential social impacts of the project in the area were considered in a meaningful way.
Noor Hassan Khoso, another farmer, said that significant technical mistakes were made in the design of the LBOD. He further added that due to the breach at RD-283, the UC Saman Sarkar, Dehi Jarks, Pangro and surrounding UCs were destroyed and thousands of villagers and local people migrated during the recent monsoon flooding and LBOD breach.
More rains in Sindh are forecast by the meteorological department while water from the previous spell of rains is still standing in the streets, and the LBOD is already overflowing.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2020
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