BAHAWALPUR, Sept 8: The irrigation department is making all-out efforts to save cotton in the Bahawalpur zone, as the shortage of water continues to pose a threat to crops. This was stated by Bahawalpur zone irrigation chief engineer Jafar Kabir Ansari at a press conference here on Wednesday.

He said the 43 per cent shortage of canal water in the coming Rabi season would pose a threat to the wheat crop. However, he said, the government was fully alive to the danger in the Bahawalpur zone and other areas of the Punjab.

He said Irsa and the Punjab government had already decided to adopt a workable strategy to regulate the use of canal water during the crisis period. The department would launch a campaign to create awareness among all the stakeholders to judiciously use water, he added.

He said the water rotation programme would be enforced to ensure that farmers at canal tail-ends should also get water. The chief engineer said the telemetry system was properly functioning at the Panjnad head works. Besides, he said, the government was taking action against water thieves.

TRADERS: Income Tax Regional Commissioner (Multan) Ehsanul Haq has asked traders to make the best use of the government's self-assessment scheme and file their returns voluntarily.

Speaking at a press conference on Wednesday, the commissioner warned action against those, who concealed their income. He claimed that with the enforcement of the new system, the tax recovery structure had been improved. The retailers with annual turnover of five million or more would have to pay income tax at the rate of 0.75 per cent, he added.

SUMMONED: Teh Anti-Terrorism Court presiding officer has summoned for Sept 16 Uch Sharif police's former inspector Rao Jamshed, Sheikh Abid, SI Sajjad Ali Shah and 10 constables, who were accused of killing three brothers.

A complaint against the police officials was filed by Mst Razia, the mother of three, residents of Jagpura in Uch Sharif, some time back. She alleged that the police officials had killed her son Manzoor in a staged encounter on Jan 23, 2004 while her other two sons - Tauqeer Abbas, 13, and Jehanzeb, 40, were murdered by them at their house.