SUKKUR, June 23: Two villages, Beguli Buledi and Karim Dino Buledi, and hundreds of acres of agricultural land were inundated after Begari Canal developed a 100-foot wide breach near Garhi Khairo late on Sunday night.

The affected villagers, Karim Bux Buledi, Ghulam Mohammad Buledi and other blamed irrigation officials for the breach and said that they did not take any notice despite several complaints about vulnerability of the canal’s embankments, which ultimately caused them losses of millions of rupees.

The breach had not been plugged till the filing of this report.

Meanwhile, scores of farmers staged a demonstration and a sit-in on the Thull-Jacobabad road in Karim Bux village on Monday to protest against scarcity of water in Moosa Allah Abad Shakh, Bhutta Shakh, Bahadur Minor and other canals.

The growers, led by Ehsan Ahmed Khoso and Zulfiqar Banglani, staged a demonstration and later a sit-in on the Thull-Jacobabad road, suspending traffic for two hours.

The protestors told the newsmen that acute shortage of water in Moosa Allah Abad Shakh, Bhutta Shakh, Bahadur Minor and other canals was turning thousands of acres of agricultural land barren and causing huge financial losses to growers.

They accused irrigation officials of selling water to influential landlords of the area at the cost of poor farmers. They warned of a strong protest movement if water was not released into the canals.

Journalists rally: Dozens of journalists staged a rally and a sit-in outside the police station in Mirpur Mathelo on Monday in protest against registration of a fake case against 22 journalists by the medical superintendent of Mirpur Mathelo Civil Hospital.

The journalists led by Latif Leghari, Allah Warrayo Bozdar and others started their march from Clock Tower, shouting slogans against police. They reached Bhittai Chowk, where they staged a sit-in for half an hour and later staged another sit-in in front of the police station.

The journalists told the SPO Mohsin Raza that the MS registered the case against 22 journalists after they reported a news 10 days ago about the MS allegedly trying to molest a teenaged patient.

The protesters ended the protest after SPO assured them that the case would be withdrawn within two days.

Underpass: The Bedil Bekas underpass has been flooded with sewage for over a week, causing problems for the residents of Bedil Bekas Colony, a large number of patients coming from other areas to Rohri Taluka Hospital and devotees visiting the shrine of Faqir Qadir Bux Bedil Bekas.

The stagnant water has badly damaged the newly-constructed road, much to the inconvenience of commuters from New Yard Colony, Loco Shed, Patni, Cement Factory, Goth Loung Bhatti, Pathan Colony and other allied areas.

People of the area blamed negligence of municipal staff of taluka council for the accumulation of sewage. They did not run pumping machines to drain out sewage and mostly kept the pumps turned off, they said.