18m acres of farmland lying barren for want of water: Rahoo

Says new water reservoir project in Punjab is conspiracy to further rob Sindh of its share of water from Indus River

KARACHI:

The Sindh government has held the federation responsible for 18 million acres of agricultural land lying uncultivated due to water shortage.

Provincial Minister for Environment Ismail Rahoo has said that the federation has acknowledged in its report that 18 million acres of agricultural land in Sindh is uncultivated due to shortage of water.

He further said that the new water reservoir project in Punjab is a conspiracy to further rob Sindh of its share of water from the Indus River as per the agreement under Indus River System Regulatory Authority (IRSA).

"Water scarcity has made the fertile lands of many districts of Sindh barren," Rahoo said expressing concern that the agriculture as well as environment in Sindh is being severely affected. Farming is impossible due to water scarcity.

Read More: 18m acres of farmland lying barren for want of water: Rahoo

He said that according to a federal government report, only 8.2 million acres of land in Sindh and more than 30 million acres of agricultural land in Punjab are being cultivated.

Rahoo said that in the last three years, various districts of Sindh have been facing 25% to 45% water shortage in Rabi and Kharif. If water is scarce then why new canals are being constructed in Punjab, he said.

The provincial minister said that the Punjab government had stolen 2,000 cusecs of water from the TP Link Canal this month, adding that the Imran government was not paying any attention to agriculture and environment.

 

Published in The Express Tribune, November 18^th, 2021.