HYDERABAD, Oct 9: The Sindh Chamber of Agriculture has demanded that 10,000 cusecs of water continuously be released downstream Kotri barrage on the permanent basis.

At the weekly meeting on Sunday, the chamber demanded that the water accord of 1991 should immediately be implemented.

Syed Qamaruzzaman Shah presided over the meeting.

It said if 10,000 cusecs of water was not released downstream Kotri barrage on the permanent basis the sea water would swallow Sindh’s agriculture land.

SAF: The Sindh Agricultural Forum has expressed dismay over the World Bank report supporting large dams in Pakistan.

In a statement issued here on Friday, the secretary general of the forum, Nazeer Memon said either the World Bank was ignorant of the whole issue of water resources in Pakistan or was in league with the vested interests.

He said the World Bank should know that the federal government, Wapda and other federal institutions are playing a partisan role against legitimate and constitutional rights of Sindh.

Mr Memon said the people of Sindh have no faith in the local legal system and they could not be a neutral referee for water distribution among provinces as suggested by the World Bank.

He said if the bank was interested in resolving the water issue, an international commission of impartial jurists, water experts, human rights advocates and constitutional experts be appointed to address the issue.

He said the commission should hold its proceedings under the aegis of United Nations and implementation of its water award be guaranteed by a team of permanent members of the United Nations and the World Bank.

He said if the World Bank could not help in the appointment of such a commission, it should not involve itself in the controversial issue of Kalabagh Dam or any other dam.

SAB: The Sindh Abadgar Board has called upon the sugarcane price fixation committee to fix minimum price of sugarcane at Rs62 per 40 kg in its next meeting scheduled to be held in the near future.

In its recommendations to the committee, the board claimed that the price had been calculated in accordance with the procedure of the agricultural prices commission, ministry of food and agriculture, Islamabad.

The board said that the recommended price of Rs62 per 40 kg was based on assumption of 750 maunds per acre yield provided, the payment was made within one week of the supply of sugarcane to the mills.

It said if the payment was delayed the production and delivery cost was likely to escalate.

BURSARY: The Sindh University has approved Rs866,300 to give financial assistance to 833 students of various institutes and departments for the academic session of 2004-05.

A spokesman of the university in a statement issued here on Friday said that applications for the financial help would be forwarded by heads of the institutes and departments.

LUMHS: The Liaquat University of Medical and Health Sciences Jamshoro has announced that the last date for submission of examination forms of third professional MBBS (new course) bi-annual examination of 2005, at LUMHS Jamshoro, Chandka Medical College Larkana and People’s Medical College for Girls Nawabshah has been fixed as October 20 without late fee and with late fee of Rs200 as October 26.