Crying foul: No water for tail-enders as some growers go over their limit

Around 2,000 growers protested the water theft as well as the inaction by the law enforcers.



KARACHI/MIRPURKHAS:


The growers whose lands are located at the head of the irrigation system are so influential that they openly steal the water from the canals while the police don’t take any action despite repeated  requests’ by the irrigation department, The Express Tribune learnt on Friday.


The growers, whose lands are supplied water by the longest canal of the Nara Canal system, the Puran Shakh, staged a protest at Jamrao Canal on Friday. These growers own over 20,000 acres of land. They have warned the authorities to resolve their issues within 36 hours or they will take the law into their hands.

“We have not had water since the last three months,” said a grower, Zulfiqar Ali Kachelo. “We demand nothing but our due share of water,” he added. “It is a peaceful demonstration.”

Not just the growers, even the residents of Sindhri, Kunri, Kot Ghulam Muhammad and Jhudo talukas are facing an acute shortage of water for domestic use. Kachelo added that people living towards the tail-end of the Puran Canal were forced to migrate to other areas due to the shortage of water.

The Puran Shakh is about 27 miles long and growers who live at its head are found to be involved in stealing and stopping the water for those growers who live at the tail-end.

“It is a fault on the part of the administration,” lamented another grower. “Only if the law is implemented in letter and spirit, can the problem be resolved.” Explaining the situation in the area, Kachelo said that a landlord who owned 2,400 acres of land was not able to cultivate even 24 acres due to the lack of water. The growers and officials believe that those people who live at the head of the canal are more influential as they steal water and are not questioned by the law enforcement agencies.

Earlier, around 2,000 growers from different areas protested outside the Mirpurkhas Press Club. The growers gathered at Jarwari Chowk, from where they made their way to the office of the director of Nara Canal Area Water Board (NCAWB). The staff and officials fled from the office for fear of being attacked, before the protesters could reach it. Later, the growers moved to Jamrao Canal where they held a sit-in, saying that the protest would continue till their demands were met.

“Yes, this is a genuine issue,” agreed the director of the NCAWB Ghulam Mustafa Ujjan. “The growers are not being given their due share.” He said that the water shortage intensifies in May and June, adding that the growers at the head of the canal were largely responsible of the crisis. “We have registered FIRs against the people involved in water theft.”

An official who wished not be named said that the growers were so ‘influential’ that the police couldn’t take action against them. “The water crisis in the area will not be resolved unless such people are arrested and legal action is taken against them,” he added.

“Ours is a 200-year-old village. We have never faced such a situation before,” said Sadique Dars of village Dost Muhammad Dars. “The state could do anything only if it was serious about resolving our problems,” he added.

According to some officials and growers there is complete ban on rice cultivation on Nara Canal, which starts from Khairpur and ends in Jhudo. Despite the ban, however, thousands of acres of land had been cultivated with the paddy crop.

 

Published in The Express Tribune, July 12th, 2014.

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