The several hundred growers and farmers on Monday gathered in Kadhan town where they staged the demonstration for many hours to register their protest against the unavailability of water in their canals for the past many months. Azizullah Dero, Abdul Ghafoor Chandio, Allah Bachayo Jamali, Rano Kolhi, Mohammad Aslam Jamali and other leaders of Save Badin Action Committee, who led the protesting farmers, speaking to the media persons held the officials of both Sindh Irrigation and Drainage Authority (Sida) and irrigation department responsible for their callous attitude towards the people of the district, who according to them, were in the miserable conditions due to unavalabilty of water in their canals for past many months. They said that most of the canals and waterways of the district had been without water for the past many months and people were facing drought-like conditions but the officials were least concerned to provide them with the adequate share of the water in their respective channels. They alleged that the officials instead of ensuring the just and judicious water distribution in the left bank canals of both Sukkur and Kotri barrages were diverting the flows of the water towards the lands of the influential figures. ” This is the cruel joke that the left bank canals of Kotri barrage are facing the worst water crisis despite enough water available in the system” they added and accused the officials of creating the mess and depriving them of their due share of water. The leaders said that people in many areas were facing hardships in getting the water for drinking purposes and were forced to drink the contaminated water from fish ponds and lakes. The leaders deplored that people in the devastead coal belt of Badin district were most affected due to the acute water shortage in the irrigation minors and were facing subhuman conditions due to indifference of the rulers towards them.
They said that they were forced to come on the roads under the scorching heat after they got poor response from the officials of both the departments ading they flayed the lawmakers from the district for their ‘criminal silence’ over the nagging water crisis mainly due to the unfair distribution by the officials and asked them to join them in their protest movement. They said that after organizing the protest demonstrations in all towns of the district they would give the shutdown call in all the big and small towns of Badin district for the indefinite period to register their protest against official neglect towards their just demands.
While, Mir Noor Ahmed Talpur, Syed Khuda Dino Shah and other leaders of the committee termed the demonstrations by the farmers a clear message to the rulers that the local officials had miserably failed to provide them with their due share of irrigation water and asked them to mend their ways. They made it clear that farmers of the district would not get due share of the water in their respective waterways as long as the blockages existed in the bed of Phuleli Canal near Matli town. They said that Sida officials had erected the bockages to divert the flows of water towards the lands of the influential figures and such ill-conceived schemes were depriving them of their due shares of water.