HYDERABAD: The Sindh Chamber of Agriculture (SCA) has demanded that the province should be declared drought-hit in view of the persisting water scarcity and the loans of the farmers who own up to 16 acres land should be waived.
A meeting of the SCA, chaired by its President Syed Miran Muhammad Shah here on Sunday, rejected the water readings of the engineering structures on the Indus river and demanded installation of the telemeter system.
The chamber also called for a probe over the stealing of around 13,000 cusecs water every day between Taunsa and Guddu barrage. The farmers asked for release of 125,000 cusecs water to Guddu barrage so that the prevailing acute water shortage could be brought to an end.
They said around 60 percent water shortage had affected hundreds of thousands of acres of land in the command areas of Guddu, Sukkur, and Kotri barrages in Sindh. The meeting appreciated the Federal Minister Syed Naveed Qamar for allowing exports of mangoes starting from May 15.
The SCA also demanded that 5 million acre-feet of water should be stored in Tarbela dam next year before the onset of summer season so that the present crisis could be averted. The office bearers and members of the SCA from Karachi, Khairpur, Sukkur, Badin, and other districts attended through the video link.
