KARACHI: The caretaker chief minister of Sindh, Fazal ur Rehman here on Thursday sought deployment of Rangers to prevent instances of water theft, severely affecting farmers cultivating lands at the tail end of irrigation network in the province.
Chairing a meeting of provincial irrigation department here Thursday, he said stringent action must also be urgently taken against the culprits nominated in no less than 50 different cases registered with the police with regard to water theft.
Taking strong exception to the fact that owners and cultivators of small land holdings are registered to be generally the tail end users of water for irrigation purpose, he said this exploitation must be brought to an end for good.
He regretted that small farmers were reportedly being exploited by influential landlords and the abuse was turning many parts of agricultural land barren.
"This has to come to end and an indiscriminate action must be taken against those nominated in the cases related to water theft, he reiterated emphasizing that all relevant options must be utilized for the purpose.
Sindh Secretary for Irrigation, Jamal Shah on the occasion informed the meeting that while water for irrigation purposes is available to satisfactory levels, however, is not reaching the tail enders due to high handedness of some.
"The present level of 81,326 quesecs water in the Guddo Barrage will reach the level of 91,000 cusecs in next two days," he said mentioning that Nara Canal with a capacity of 14,000 cusecs is flowing at a level of 10,500 cusecs.
This, the provincial secretary for irrigation said was because of water misappropriation by influential land holders in connivance with certain authorities.
Caretaker Minister for Irrigation, Mushtaq Shan and Principal Secretary to the Sindh CM, Sohail Rajput were also present on the occasion.
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