Farmers in distress as water allocation problem persists

The water allocation problem, entailed by the transfer of agricultural lands over the last two to three decades from the command areas of Rohri Canal to Nara Canal, continues to distress farmers in the latter area.

The growers at a meeting with the officers of Sindh Irrigation and Drainage Authority (SIDA) in Mirpurkhas district on Friday reiterated that about 180,000 acres of land were shifted to Nara but without securing the due water allocation.

The situation, they lamented, has resulted in increasing water shortage as more and more land is being brought under cultivation in Nara, which irrigates Khairpur, Sanhgar, Mirpurkhas and Umerkot districts.

However, SIDA Chairman Qabool Muhammad Khatian assured the farmers that he will take up this case with the provincial government with the aim to win allocation for those 180,000 acres. The canal's designed capacity is 14,000 cusecs but during the time of floods, it has carried water beyond its capacity.

Read Tiny little water drops help farmers avoid wastage

It consists of four divisions including Thar, Jamrau, Mithrau and Upper Nara while it is further divided into 14 branch canals.

Under the Water Sector Improvement Project (WSIP), a sum of over Rs6 billion was spent on the canal's rehabilitation with raising embankments, de-silting and constructing three fall structures to check the silt as its components. The project completed in 2013-14.

The farmers also complained about seepage in the areas surrounding the five fall structures - three of which were built by 2014 under WISP and two other by 2016-17 by the Sindh government. The chairman SIDA said he will form a committee of experts to study the issue and find an early resolution to the problem.

Khatian directed the officers and staff of Nara Canal Area Water Board to repair the damaged watercourse within a week. He informed that the provincial government is reinforcing the embankments of the branch canals in the province.

Read more Water shortage looms over Kharif crops

He added that the channels which have been missed out in the process will be identified and SIDA will approach the government to carry out the remaining work. The chairman asked the farmers to write letters to the government to undertake lining of the water distributaries in their areas.

He requested them to increase the irrigation revenues through efficient collection of water bills. Khatian directed the officers to prepare a PC-I for raising the height of the embankments of Nara by three to four feet. Director NCAWB Naeem Akhtar Memon and Member of NCAWB Zahid Hussain Bhurgari also expressed their views. Chairman NCAWB Haji Ali Murad Rajar, General Manager Transition of SIDA Ghulam Mustafa Ujjan and other officers attended the meeting.