SCA for implementation of 1991 water accord

F.P. Report

HYDERABAD: The Sindh Chamber of Agriculture has demanded that the Indus River System Authority (IRSA) should implement the 1991 Water Accord and give Sindh its due share of water.

A meeting of the SCA presided over by its General Secretary, Zahid Bhurgari, here Sunday observed that the water shortage was increasing in the province and many districts were even facing lack of drinking water. They also requested the federal government to select a representative of the center to IRSA from Sindh province.

The meeting also denounced the alleged exploitation of wheat farmers by the middlemen who were buying wheat at low price. The SCA demanded that the wheat procurement centers should immediately be opened in Sindh and the distribution of gunny sacks to the wheat farmers should also kick-start without further delay. “The government should increase its wheat buying target by 20 percent,” the SCA recommended.

The farmers also complained about poor quality cotton seed which was being sold with impunity in province and asked the provincial government to take action against the illegal business. Action against the sugar mills which were not paying Rs. 160 per 40 kilograms rate for the cane crop was also demanded.

Mir Abdul Kareem Talpur, Asghar Khan Noonari, M. Khan Sarejo, Nisar Ahmed Khatian, Murad Ali Khan Nizamani, Ghulam Hussain Chachar and other office bearers and members of the SCA attended the meeting.