Sindh minister holds protest meeting at Kotri downstream

SUKKUR: Provincial Minister for Irrigation Sohail Anwar Sial on Sunday said holding a protest meeting at the downstream of Kotri Barrage is to let the world know reality of the claims being made by the IRSA that water was being released in the Indus River.

While addressing a press conference at Kotri downstream in Jamshoro, Sohail Anwar Sial said today one could see that water was not in the river, saying that as a result of not releasing water, the sea has been eroding land, which could lead to flooding in lower Sindh.

He said under the agreement, at least 5,000 cusecs of water should be released, so the delta could be saved from destruction. He added that the people would not get any relief by the incompetent federal government, saying there was no water in the River Indus, despite Sindh’s demand of water according to the 1999 accord.

The provincial minister said the federal budget was fake, so the pockets of people would again be pick-pocketed and there was not a single penny relief for the people.

To a question, he said SIDA is a water management body, due to non-release of irrigation water, rice could not be sown in Sindh. He said Sukkur and Guddu Barrages were still facing water shortages and IRSA was not distributing water properly.

Replying to a question, he said he was visiting canals to review the water situation in barrages, after being accused by the federal minister of stealing water.