SUKKUR, Sept 7: Repair work on Sukkur Barrage stopped on Monday after the staff of a private company, hired by the irrigation authorities to fill ditches and cavities, left for Karachi, leaving the work incomplete.

An irrigation official said that they did not want to comment on the issue as it was the responsibility of the Sindh irrigation secretary and a committee formed by the provincial chief minister to monitor the repair work.

A source in the m/s MEW Private Company told this correspondent that only 30 to 40 per cent of ditches and cavities had been filled so far and at least 60 per cent of the repair work was yet to be done.

The source claimed that the Sindh government had failed to pay the running bills to the company. Only Rs10 million had been paid so far whereas bills of Rs25 million were pending with the government, he elaborated.

According to the source, a notice had been served to the secretary of irrigation for early clearance of the bill, telling him otherwise the work would be suspended.

The irrigation authorities did not paid the remaining bills, therefore, they were forced to leave the work incomplete, the company source said. However, he said, if the pending bills were cleared, the repair work could be resumed on a notice of eight hours.

SIT-IN: Residents of Sukkur staged a sit-in on the Sukkur- Shikarpur road near the wholesale fruit and vegetable market here to protest against the lease of the city's oldest park and other valuable plots by the Taluka Municipal Council, Sukkur.

On the call of the Sukkur Bachao Ittehad, the protesters, who raised slogans against the taluka nazim and burnt tyres, blocked the road for two hours. They said the taluka council disposed of the plots at throwaway prices. They warned that they would stage a sit-in outside the taluka council office if the decision of leasing out the plots was not cancelled.