BADIN: Sindh Minister for Irrigation Syed Nasir Hussain Shah on Saturday paid a day-long visit to Badin district to ascertain causes of the persisting water shortage. He examined the situation at various regulators and other installations near Matli, Talhar, Tando Bago, Rajo Khanani, Badin city and other areas.

He directed the officials concerned of the Sindh Irrigation and Drainage Authority (Sida) to dismantle all illegal waterways and modules in order to ensure a fair distribution of water among all growers, farmers and agriculturists.

He held press conferences at the residence of MPA Mir Allah Bux Talpur in Rajo Khanani town, Jamali House in Tando Bago and at the residence of MPA Taj Mohammad Mallah in Badin town to brief the media about his assessment.

He said the top leadership of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and Sindh government were committed to ensure an equitable distribution of water among all stakeholders of the Indus. He admitted that there were impediments leading to the acute shortage of water being faced by certain districts for many months.

He said he could feel the pain of protesting growers and farmers due to the situation. “That’s why I am here to meet the aggrieved people and try to get the issue resolved,” he added.

He advised leaders of the Save Badin Committee, which has been spearheading a sustained campaign against the deepening water crisis in the district, to wait for the final report of a relevant committee looking into the blockages responsible for the situation.

The provincial government has constituted a 19-member technical committee headed by Idris Rajput to identify the blockages illegally erected at different sections of the canals meant for feeding lands of Badin district.

“We are going to evolve a mechanism to further improve the system so that water theft all along its course from Guddu Barrage to Kotri Barrage could be effectively checked,” he said, adding that if the need be, Akram Wah would be made a twin channel with the financial assistance of World Bank under its Water Sector Improvement Project.

“Once the report is submitted to Sindh government, we will take no time to dismantle the blockages if they are found to be hindering flow of water in Akram Wah (water channel) and Phulleli Canal,” he said.

He said he knew that water shortage had devastated the farming community while people of Badin district had to consume hazardous subsoil water for their survival. He held out the assurance that it would be his prime duty to ensure supply of adequate water to each and every area of the district when the Indus would start getting the required flows in the days to come. “During my visit today, I saw people facing immense hardship in getting water in different areas of the district,” he said, and hoped that all parts of the district would be provided drinking and irrigation water within the next few days.

He informed the media that under a directive of PPP co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari work had been started to regulate water distribution. He said a delegation led by Sindh Chamber of Agriculture’s Qabool Mohammad Khatian had called on him in Karachi to brief him about the ongoing water crisis in the district. He said that the top PPP leadership had asked him to frequently visit the water-deficit areas and address the issue.

Published in Dawn, April 28th, 2019