Farmers and activists took to the streets as part of a protest demonstration organised by Save Badin Action Committee against the worsening water crisis in the district.
Several hundred famers, growers and activists affiliated with different political parties from various areas of Badin district gathered at the towns of Talhar and Mati on Monday, from where they marched towards Hyderabad to register their protest against the persisting water crisis in the canals of the area for the past several months.
The call to gather outside the office of Sindh Irrigation and Drainage Authority (Sida) was given by Save Badin Action Committee.
The protesters, after marching on the roads and thoroughfares, gathered outside SIDA's office, where they staged the demonstration for several hours. During their sit-in, the leaders of different political parties also joined them to show their solidarity with them over the unfortunate state of irrigation in Badin district.
Mir Noor Ahmed Talpur, Naimat Khuhro, Mohammad Hanif Nizamani and other leaders of the committee while talking to media persons deplored that their share of water had been diverted towards the lands of the influential landlords by erecting the blockages in the bed of Phuleli Canal near Matli town.
They said that due to unavailability of water in their canals and irrigation outlets, tens of thousands of people had been deprived of drinking water even, and their fertile lands had turned barren. They claimed they were forced to come on the roads to protest against such callousness on the part of the officials and rulers.
The committee members said that they would be unable to get their due share of water until the big blockages were removed by SIDA officials. They said they were facing drought-like situation, as if they were living in a desert region. According to them, local farmers and growers had started to migrate to other areas due to the persistent water crisis, forced to leave behind their once-fertile lands.
They deplored the fact they people living in the tail-end areas of the district had to travel miles to fetch water. "It is a bitter fact that there is a shortage of water in the system, but officials are not ready to ensure the equitable water distribution among the growers and farmers of the canals of Kotri barrage" they added.
Holding the officials of SIDA responsible for the persistent water crisis in Badin district, they demanded the removal of negligent officials as well as the abolishment of SIDA in the best interests of the farming community.
The protestors said it was a heinous crime to deprive the coastal belt of Sindh of its share of water at the time when the sea was fast devouring the lands of Badin, Thatta and Sujawal districts. They also resolved to resist any moves to ban rice cultivation in Badin and neighboring districts.
"We cannot survive without sowing our chief crop in one of the biggest rice producing zones of the country" members of the committee said. They also demanded the high-ups of Sindh to come up with the real facts and play their role to take up the issue of water crisis at all proper forums, questioning why IRSA was not ensuring the equitable distribution of water among the provinces.
They claimed that the Punjab government had abolished PIDA some three years back, after its officials failed to ensure the just and judicious water distribution in certain districts of Punjab.
The protestors asserted that the whole mess had been created by officials, due to which things were aggravating, and the people of the Badin district were being deprived of their share of the irrigation water.