Siraj blames rulers for water crisis

LAHORE: Jamaat-e-Islami ameer Sirajul Haq has expressed his distress that past and present governments paid the least attention to improve water security, resulting in high prices of electricity and severe water shortage for irrigation which posed serious threat to agriculture sector.

Presiding over a consultative meeting with advisers on energy, water, education, law and order, and Afghan issues at Mansoora on Monday, Sirajul Haq said if governments had built dams and improved hydel power generations, the dilemma of around Rs2.5tr circular debt and food security could have been averted.

He said the government should decrease the prices of agriculture machinery and provide direct subsidy to farmers to bring improvement in crop production. He said food security threat could be resolved by bringing improvement in agriculture sector. He regretted the alarming decrease in annual production of cotton.

Siraj said the provincial governments failed to hold local body polls, multiplying the crises at gross root level. He said the failure in conducting the LB polls was a proof of political parties’ insincerity with the democracy. He said the ruling elite never wanted to strengthen democracy and free and fair elections. He said there was need to strengthen and empower the Election Commission of Pakistan and the political parties must join hands for electoral reforms. Siraj said the peace in Pakistan was linked to the peace in Afghanistan.