Sindh to check watercourses lining

KARACHI: Sindh has decided to check implementation status and quality of watercourses lining and action against misinformation or any discrepancy in watercourses figures, The News learnt on Tuesday.

In a meeting, the provincial government decided to constitute a committee to check physical execution status of additional lining of watercourses in all divisions.

CM Sindh’s advisor Manzoor Hussain Wassan chaired the meeting that was also attended by secretary agriculture Aijaz Ahmed Mahessar and other officials.

The meeting reviewed in detail issues of water scarcity, urea fertiliser, agricultural commodities, registration of pharmaceutical companies, watercourses, and other agricultural development schemes.

Wassan directed director general (DG) water management and divisional officers to complete all agricultural schemes as soon as possible. Demand for watercourses has increased in the province on shortage of water.

The meeting was told that work of watercourses in almost all districts of Sindh had been completed and the rest had expedited the process.

The DG said there were 1,300 hundred targets for watercourses in Sindh in the year 2021-22, out of which 745 had been completed and work on the remaining 555 watercourses was underway.

Expressing concerns over shortage of agriculture water in the province, the agriculture advisor said lack of water had damaged provincial crops. He lamented saying that farmers were worries and the situation had deteriorated.

Wassan directed DG Extension Hidayatullah Chhajro to form a mechanism to devised for checking agricultural commodities in the province, training officers, and further improvement in other agricultural sectors to provide relief to the farmers.

He claimed that there was no shortage of urea fertiliser in Sindh at present and the fertiliser was available as per requirement in the Kharif season.