MIRPURKHAS, Nov 3: Sowing of wheat is being adversely affected in Mirpurkhas and Umerkot districts owing to acute shortage of water particularly in the tail-end areas of the Nara Canal.

Wheat sowing season has started from Nov 1 but water was being supplied only for drinking purpose to the tail-end growers of the canal.

Irrigation officials had introduced rotation programme to overcome shortage of water, hence over 80 distributaries and minors were lying dry in the command area of Nara. If this condition continued for few more weeks, not only sowing of wheat would be delayed but the next wheat crop would also be badly hit.

Besides wheat, the current scenario would also affect chilli, onion and sunflower.

Irrigation authorities, however, maintain that under the rotation programme, one distributary remains closed for 15 days while water is provided for only one week.

According to irrigation department of Mirpurkhas, at least 10,150 cusec of water is being supplied to Nara head against a demand of 16,850 cusec. Water supply in Jamrao, Mithrao and Thar canals, fed from Nara canal, automatically decreases and as a result of which sowing of wheat is adversely affected, hey added.

A number of wheat growers, including Imtiaz Panhwar, Shamsuddin Shaikh, Javed Babar, Moosa Maher and Haji Abdul Ghafoor Maher, told this correspondent that water was only being released to canals for drinking purpose while standing crops were being damaged.

They said that sowing of wheat was being delayed and if no improvement in water supply was made, production of wheat might be decreased. They demanded of the government to ensure required quantity of water to the tail-end growers.

HUNGER STRIKE: Peasants and representatives of NGOs continued their token hunger strike out side the press club here on Monday to press the government to recover 75 peasants from illegal confinement of an influential landlord.

The protesters carried banners and placards and raised slogans against the landlord.