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Today's Paper | November 28, 2024

Published 01 May, 2004 12:00am

HYDERABAD: Poisonous water blamed for fish depletion

HYDERABAD, April 30: People's Party Parliamentarians MNA Nawab Abdul Ghani Talpur has said that fish and grass in the Manchhar Lake have been completely destroyed due to the poisonous water from Punjab , Balochistan and Sindh. He was speaking to fishermen in Bubak town, Sehwan taluka, on Thursday.

He assured the fishermen that he would raise his voice on the floor of the National Assembly about pollution of the Manchhar Lake. Mr Talpur said that 500 cusecs poisonous water was being released in the lake every day through the MNVD.

He said during the summer season, the quantity of poisonous water increased to 3,000 cusecs per day. He said the life of tens of thousands of people living around the lake was at stake but the government had failed to take any notice of their predicament. He warned that if the government remained indifferent the people would be forced to launch a movement.

DEMO: A large number of growers under the banner of "Tail Abadgar Association" of the Belori minor staged a protest demonstration outside the press club on Friday against the acute shortage of water in the minor.

Speaking on the occasion, the chairman of the association, Ali Mohammad Pahore, vice-chairman Mian Abdullah Shaikh and general secretary Ayub Burdi said that it was due to inefficiency the officials of the Naseer division that a major breach had occurred in the Rohri Canal.

They lamented that while tail-end growers of the Belori minor, Rohuki distributary, and many other channels were crying against the artificial shortage of water, breaches were taking place in the main canal.

They accused the SDO concerned and executive engineer of corruption. They took strong exception to the inclusion of two irrigation officials in the inquiry committee and alleged that they were the main culprits of the breach.

They pointed out that the Sindh minister for irrigation had issued clear instructions to end the rotation programme and to ensure water supply to tail-enders but these orders were violated by the corrupt irrigation officials.

They demanded that inquiry into the Rohri canal breach should be held by a judge of the high court or district and sessions judge Hyderabad who was also the head of human rights board. They demanded that growers' representatives of the Ghotana distributary and Belori minor should also be included in the inquiry committee.

CANE COMMISSIONER: The Sindh cane commissioner here on Thursday summoned the Matiari Sugar Mills resident director to appear in his office on May 5 on an application about delay in payment for the season 2,003-2004 and deduction from sugarcane price.

Cane Commmissioner Nazar Mohammad Baloch also asked the mill official to immediately clear dues of the growers. He warned that if the mill's resident director failed to appear in his office on the above-mentioned date, a decision would taken against him.

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