Sindh Abadgar Board, a representative body of growers and cultivators, has expressed a grave concern on the shortage of water in Kotri Barrage command area covering Thatta, Badin, T M Khan, Matli and Sujawal districts and demanded the government to provide relief by declaring the area as calamity hit, waiving off land revenue and other taxes, remitting loans and providing financial support to them.
Addressing a news conference here on Monday, the President SAB Abdul Majeed Nizamani said Sindh was being supplied water from Chashma Jhelum Link Canal which ought to be given from either Taunsa Barrage or Guddu Barrage as much quantity of water from the Indus River was allegedly being stolen by the government of Punjab.
He said that out of 2.8 million of acres of land of Kotri Barrage area 0.3 million of acres has been eroded by sea while the remaining 2.5 million of acres of land are cultivable which is irrigated through two main canals of Kotri Barrage that are Phuleli and Pinyari.
He said the main crop of Kharif is paddy for which 40,000 tons of seedlings have been bowed worth Rs 4 billions but due to acute shortage of water transplantation is not possible. He said currently the KB is receiving only 14,000 cusecs of water in place of at least 30,000 needed for two canals (17,000 cusecs for Phuleli and 13,000 for Pinyari). Two weeks ago Guddu Barrage received 188,285 cusecs water upper stream and 94,285 cusecs down stream. But water flow at Sukkur Barrage was 72,135 cusecs while as much as 22,000 cusecs of water was lost.
He also questioned that the duration of water flow from Sukkur Barrage to Kotri Barrage was one week but even after the passage of two weeks water has still not reached at Kotri Barrage which was strange. He also said that despite expenditure of billions of rupees by WAPDA no dam including Gajj Dam, Manchhar Sewhan Dam, Hamal Reservoir have so far been completed to provide water during the shortage of water in Indus River.
He urged politicians, law makers of lower Sindh and civil society to take notice of the situation of acute shortage of water. Other members of the SAB - Sadiq Ali Shah, Major Umer Farooq (Retd), Aslam Baloch, Abdul Rehman Khatti, Abdul Ghani Soomro and others - were also present on the occasion.
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