Acute water shortage: Save Badin Action Committee pledges massive protests

SUKKUR: The leaders of ‘Save Badin Action Committee’, protesting against the water crisis in the tail-end areas of the district for the past two years, have pledged to launch massive protests throughout the Badin district if their request is not entertained.

While talking to the media persons on Wednesday, the leaders of the action committee, including Mir Noor Ahmed Talpur, Syed Khuda Dino Shah, Muhammad Hanif Nizamani and others have pledged to launch massive protests throughout Badin district if their righful share of water is not restored. They said the SIDA officials claim to supply adequate water at all outlets of Phuleli Canal and Akram Wah through fudged numbers.

They claimed that it would be mere another ruse to silence the protesting farmers, adding that the officials do not bother to remove diversions in the canals and channels that prevent uninterrupted flow of the water to tail-end.

The protesters alleged the irrigation officials that they were trying to deceive the community and government leaders by issuing concocted figures regarding water flow to the downstream. They said the SIDA wanted to deceive farmers’ community by issuing fake figures, saying the water shortage at the outlets of Akram Wah and Phuleli Canal had already ruined the lives of thousands of farmers.

The farmers’ leaders said their seedlings of the rice crop were already mature to be planted and if adequate water is not provided, the entire crop would be ruined. They asked the officials to ensure provision of allocated water to their canals and to prevent diversion of their righful water for the growers of the command areas of Sukkur.

They questioned the irrigation officials and the relevent minister that why areas where rice cultivation was banned were being given share from Badin’s water. The protesters reiterated their pledge to launch massive protest throughout Badin district, if their due share of water is not be released into their canals. They asked Sindh irrigation minister Suhail Anwar Siyal to fulfill his commitment to provide water to the tail-end areas of Badin and other districts of lower Sindh.