‘Officials involved in water theft suspended’
As protests against the shortage of irrigation water grip Sindh, the provincial irrigation minister, Suhail Anwar Siyal, has claimed that the officials responsible for water theft and scarcity are being suspended.
Addressing a press conference in Larkana on Friday, Siyal said that Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) chairperson Bilawal Bhutto Zardari and Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah had taken notice of the complaints of irrigation water scarcity, and "many irrigation officials have been suspended so far."
Commenting specifically on the severe water scarcity in Dadu district’s Johi town, the minister said he himself had visited the town to take stock of the situation.
"I have written to the Sindh chief secretary to remove the irrigation department’s superintendent engineer in Johi from the post and to suspend him as well," Siyal said, in a bid to assuage the protests raging in several districts of Sindh.
He said that all irrigation department officials had been warned of action in case of water theft through direct outlets from their jurisdictions.
Siyal further disclosed that Bilawal had received a complaint via email, accusing a PPP MNA of stealing water. He said that the party’s chairperson had directed an inquiry against that MNA.
According to the minister, control rooms for receiving complaints of water theft have been set up at the Sukkur and Kotri barrages, while committees have also been formed for desilting the Left Bank Outfall Drain and Right Bank Outfall Drain.
Petition demands inquiry
Separately, the residents of Johi have filed a petition in a local court, demanding a judicial inquiry into water theft.
The petitioner, Ghulam Abbass Rudnani, claimed that the town had also been deprived of drinking water. "Our agricultural lands have dried up and our livestock is dying," he said.
The petitioner demanded an inquiry against the Sukkur barrage chief engineer, irrigation department’s superintendent engineer in Larkana and other officials, accusing them of conniving with influential landlords and facilitating them in stealing water.
Besides, the petition termed a recent visit by the irrigation minister to Johi "theatrical", criticising Siyal for not adopting a practical approach to resolve the problem.
The court has issued notices to the respondents, seeking their replies on August 5.
Published in The Express Tribune, August 1st, 2020.