DADU: At least 25 people, five of them policemen, were injured in an hours-long clash between police and growers at Kolachi Mori near Khairpur Nathan Shah town on Saturday.

The growers were protesting against unavailability of irrigation water to their lands in the tail-end of Dadu Canal and Rice Canal which, they said, was signaling a looming financial crisis to small landowners of the region as they were losing the paddy sowing season.

Several hundred growers from around 40 union councils of Dadu, Khairpur Nathan Shah and Mehar talukas led by Ahmed Nawaz Sodhar, Anwar Ali Gadehi, Ali Mohammad, Mohammad Khan Kandhro, Rashid Kolachi and Rice Millers Association president Niaz Ali Buriro assembled at Kolachi Mori at about 8am on Saturday to hold a protest demonstration against local irrigation officials for causing, what they called, an artificial water shortage in the area.

The held a sit-in on the nearby section of the Indus Highway demanding immediate release of adequate water into the two canals. Their leaders condemned the officials for “diverting water flows at the head of the canals to the lands of influential political figures, big landowners and feudal lords.

Protesters were demanding release of water into Dadu and Rice canals

During the protest, the growers kept raising slogans against irrigation officials and Sindh government.

The sit-in caused suspension of vehicular traffic on the highway. The area police held negotiations with the protesters’ leaders for about four hours but could not persuade them to clear the road.

According to local reporters, no senior irrigation official appeared ready to proceed to the sit-in venue for talks till the evening.

In the second half of the day, SHO Akbar Channa along with a strong contingent of personnel moved to the site again and resumed negotiations with the protesters. After failing to persuade them to end their protest, the SHO warned that force could be used to clear the highway as long queues of passenger and cargo vehicles had already stuck up along it for many hours.

The failure of talks provoked some protesters, who started pelting stones at stuck up vehicles smashing window panes of several of them.

The police moved into action and baton-charged the violent protesters. The situation worsened when many more growers from the nearby areas joined in the protest to help prolong the sit-in.

Amid a hide-and-seek between police and growers, some protesters overpowered an unspecified number of policemen and stated beating them up, according to reports reaching here from Kolachi Mori in the evening.

Police had to fire many shots into the air to scare away violent protesters and rescue the personnel.

Police managed to disperse the protesters by 5pm, after which it was reported that at least 20 protesters and five policemen sustained injuries in the clash. Almost all of them were hit with stones and clubs. It was confirmed that none of the injured had sustained bullet wounds.

Earlier, Ahmed Nawaz Sodhar spoke to the protesters at the sit-in venue. He said the protest was organised because Rice Canal and all its branches had gone dry due to the artificial water shortage. He alleged that water was being released only to influential figures’ lands right from the heads of Dadu and Rice canals. As a result, he said, tail-end growers were getting no water.

Anwar Ali Gadehi said that the affected paddy growers were unable to cultivate their lands as sowing season had already started. He said there would be a crisis for them if 95pc of expected crop was lost due to unavailability of water in the Rice and Dadu canals during the season.

Around 300,000 acers of land might turn barren in Dadu district alone, he warned.

Rashid Kolachi said that 20 branches originating from Rice Canal had gone dry affecting 40 union councils of Mehar, Khairpur Nathan Shah and Dadu.

Mohammad Khan Kandhro said that stoppage of water supply to small growers of this region tantamount to their economic murder. He also deplored that people in the rural areas of the two districts were not even provided water for drinking and feeding their animals.

After the clash, Ali Mohammad strongly criticised police for using force against protesters. He said the attempt by police to forcibly end the sit-in provoked growers while intense baton-charge and use of firearms aggravated the situation. He said 20 growers were injured in the police action against peaceful protesters.

Niaz Ali Buriro also condemned the police action and demanded stern action against those police officers and personnel involved in baton-charge and firing.

Published in Dawn, June 19th, 2022