LARKANA: Growers and their representative organisations fear that severe shortage of irrigation water arising out of recent damage to Sukkur Barrage gates may lead to drought, large scale migration, economic depression and a law and order situation across the rice cultivation belt.

The water shortage surfaced after seven gates of Sukkur Barrage were damaged on June 20 and drastically impacted the canals originating from the Right Bank of the River Indus.

Dawn contacted Ishaq Mugheri, former president of the Sindh Abadgar Board (SAB), Qambar-Shahdadkot, to seek his views about the obtaining situation. He said Ratodero Branch, Shahdadkot (SKT) Branch and Saifullah Magsi Branch are the key irrigation channels to cultivate paddy in Shahdadkot, Qubo Saeed Khan, Sujawal and Kachi Pull with a host of major and minor channels and tributaries.

Ratodero Branch irrigates 70,000 acres of land purely meant for paddy cultivation, the SKT Branch around 118,000 acres while Saifullah Magsi Branch feeds 156,000 acres of land in their command areas respectively. Over 50 irrigation channels and tributaries take off from these major irrigation arteries which are not only the source of irrigation for paddy crops, but also meeting the potable water demand of the population linked with agriculture, Mugheri said.

At Garang Regulator, a point of water distribution between Sindh and Balochistan, we must get four feet of water for Saifullah Magsi Branch, but presently hardly over one foot is released into it. At the SKT Branch, the condition is quite distressing, as currently almost all branches have dried up and the same is the situation at Ratodero Branch.

Irrigation Minister Jam Khan Shoro said in a recently held meeting at the Chief Minister House that 185,000 acres of Balochistan were irrigated by the Right Bank canals.

Drinking water

Reports gathered from Shahdadkot indicated that the acute shortage of irrigation water had severely affected the water supply system of the town as the ponds were empty. This border town has highly brackish subsoil water and amidst the situation, majority of people have to buy one 20kg sweet water cane at a rate of Rs20 to meet their day-to-day requirements. The agricultural land falling within the command area of Saifullah Magsi Branch is waiting for the mandatory flow of water to irrigate paddy nurseries.

Water share of provinces

“We told Irsa chairman Abdul Hameed Mengal during a meeting at Sukkur Barrage last week that water was urgently needed in all branches and channels feeding the agriculture belt in Qambar-Shahdadkot district as per the 1991 Water Apportion­ment Accord but in vain, Mugheri said. If the required water share was not released in the Saifullah Magsi Branch, Shahdakot Branch and Ratodero Branch, the situation would be very serious, he said.

Abdul Khaliq Khoso, president of the SAB Qambar-Shahdadkot, said our agricultural land meant for paddy cultivation in this season wore deserted look. What to talk of irrigation water in the channels and tributaries when we did not have water to save our paddy nurseries prepared on the expectation of early water availability. The paddy nurseries were drying and dying, but unfortunately, the officials were unfazed about the severity of the condition, he added.

Water theft alleged

Painting a gloomy picture of water shortage, he said that over 150 illegal pipes were inserted in North Western Canal and Saifullah Magsi Branch and under irrigation officials’ nose, Balochistan was stealing water from both canals. He claimed that from Rice Canal, the officials were giving water to Dadu Canal, which was a new phenomenon, he said.

The distribution system of Dadu Canal was comprised of over 60 off-taking channels, which was presently experiencing a shortage of water after the Sukkur Barrage gates’ problem cropped up, the sources said.

Mr Khoso said the acute water shortage intensity could be measured by the fact that people residing in the area and animals had the same source of ponds in Shahdadkot, Qubo Saeed Khan and Kachi Pull areas for drinking purposes. Under the obtaining situation the tillers, peasants were frequently migrating from their abodes and, according to Mr Khoso, only certain landlords were staying there. “Water is life and we are anxiously waiting for it to come to irrigate our lands for paddy cultivation and our survival,” he said and complained about the lukewarm attitude of the Irsa chairman during a recent meeting at Sukkur Barrage.

‘Protest as last resort’

He warned that if the water situation was not improved till Moharram 10, the SAB would protest outside the Sindh Chief Minister’s House. “Our urgent demand is to release mandatory water share in all canals and irrigation channels to save growers, tillers and peasants” from what he called devastating economic losses.

However, Ishaq Mughiri, former president of SAB of Qambar-Shahdadkot, feared that the obtaining conditions might create the law and order situation.

Irfan Jatoi, president of SAB Larkana district, who also met the Irsa chairman at Sukkur Barrage, pointed towards a new development where paddy is being cultivated on Left Bank Canals, which otherwise is banned.

But the irrigation and other concerned officials are sitting just like silent onlookers. “We demand to immediately clamp ban on rice cultivation on the Left Bank,” Mr Jatoi said. Strangely the canals on the Right Bank, a water source for rice cultivation, were suffering the most due to an acute shortage of water in the peak sowing season of paddy, he said.

Alone on Rice Canal, some two million acres of land is being cultivated for paddy crops and 98 per cent of rice yield was exportable quality, but one wonders why such treatment the growers are facing.

They urged the Sindh government to take urgent and effective measures to address the alarming shortage of irrigation water to contain the mounting unrest among growers who had no alternate crop in the rice growing belt.

Published in Dawn, July 15th, 2024