BADIN, May 2: Hundreds of people affected by the Left Bank Outfall Drain took out a procession here on Saturday against loan facilities provided by the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank for expansion of the project.

Representatives of 40 NGOs and social welfare organizations and activists of the People's Party Parliamentarians and the Sindh Taraqqi Pasand Party participated in the procession that was organized by the Save Coast Action Committee, Badin. The protesters emerged from the Laar Museum and after marching through main thoroughfares staged a sit-in at the Shahnawaz Chowk for more than two hours.

Led by PPP MPA Dr Sikandar Ali Mandhro and others, the protesters were carrying placards and banners inscribed with slogans against the government and other authorities concerned.

The speakers criticized the World Bank and the ADB for financing the LBOD project which they termed dangerous for people of the coastal area. They said that the drain had failed to dispose of effluent and had resulted in inundation of villages, crops and historical sites.

They said that smaller drains, particularly the Kadhan Pateji Outfall Drain and Dhoro Puran Outfall Drain, which fall into the LBOD had also affected the area people. Sources of livelihood of people, including livestock and agriculture, were also declining, they added.

The protesters warned that if the government did not change the direction of the LBOD, people would remove the protective bund and divert the drain water towards the Shakoor Lake. MPA Mandhro criticized the Sindh government for its apathy towards resolving the problem.

He said that shortage of water had been forcing the rural population to migrate from their villages. He warned that if the LBOD direction was not changed to its natural flow, all roads of the town would be blocked.

Khadim Talpur also criticized the Sindh government and the funding agencies and said that murder cases would be registered against authorities concerned in case floods in the drain resulted into the death of people.

The protesters vowed that to launch a campaign for protection of their rights. They demanded suspension of the loan facilities and repair of breaches in the LBOD and other drains developed during floods last year.

ARREST DEMANDED: A labourer, Mir Hassan, and his wife, Subhan, have complained that police are not arresting an influential landlord nominated in an FIR registered under the Zina Hudood Ordinance.

The couple told journalists that they had gone to the Syed Allah Dino Shah village near Pangrio for work eight months back. Ms Subhan said that a week back when her husband was away from home, the armed landlord, Mohammad Aslam, barged into the house and attempted to assault her. However, on her hue and cry, villagers gathered and the accused escaped, she added.

The couple said that they registered a case with the Pangrio police but the landlord, who was now issuing them with threats, had not been arrested. They said that they would commit self-immolation if the accused was not arrested.