SHC seeks names of outlets stealing water from canals

HYDERABAD: The Sindh High Court (SHC) has expressed displeasure over the Sindh irrigation ministry's evasion over taking action against outlets that have been stealing water from the irrigation canals.

The Hyderabad circuit bench of Justice Muhammad Shafi Siddiqui and Justice Muhammad Faisal Kamal Alam, during a hearing on Thursday, noted that the ministry had been flouting this court's March 6, 2018, orders.

Two years ago, the court had directed the irrigation officials to submit a list of such outlets, which are provided after sanction from the highest levels of the Sindh government, operating in the province. The submission was supposed to be followed by across-the-board action for plugging those outlets.

The outlets violate Section 5 of the Sindh Irrigation Act, 1879, according to the petitioners, who apprised the court that in 1999, the provincial government had also promulgated an ordinance to outlaw 107 similar outlets in Sindh.

The bench pointed out that till the recent hearing, the Sindh irrigation secretary had only submitted two files for the relevant outlets. "Under the law, they [the irrigation officials] were required to submit [in the SHC] detailed list of the direct outlets on the main canals which are prohibited under the irrigation laws," the court stated in its order on Thursday. "But they [the irrigation officials] have made evasive replies since the orders were passed on March 6, 2018."

The court ordered the Sindh irrigation secretary to submit an affidavit disclosing the number of direct outlets in the province within 10 days, so that further action could be ordered.

Referring to the three identical petitions filed by Mazhar Ali, Ghulam Nabi Shah and Mumtaz Ali against the outlets, the bench noted that this public interest litigation had been pending for a long time. "... they [the petitions] require immediate attention to curtail and curb such exercise," the bench stated.

Irrigation minister

Meanwhile, Sindh irrigation Minister Suhail Anwar Siyal, who visited the rehabilitated parts of the Phuleli canal on Thursday, said supplying irrigation water to tail-end farmers is the government's top priority.

He claimed that after the rehabilitation of Phuleli under the Water Sector Improvement Project (WISP) the water supply has improved to areas in Badin and Tando Muhammad Khan districts which used to complain about the shortage.

He claimed that the provincial government would soon launch the restoration of the Akram canals, which also flows from Kotri barrage like Phuleli, through financing by a World Bank loan.

Sindh Irrigation and Drainage Authority chairperson Abdul Basit Soomro added that the authority has also rehabilitated three more canals including Nara and Ghotki feeder canals. "After three decades, farmers in the tail-end areas of these three canals have started to receive water," he claimed.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 7^th, 2020.