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Qaim vows to get Sindh s water share

Posted on: Mon March 01, 2010

HYDERABAD: Sindh Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah on Sunday said his government wanted to see the proper implementation of the 1991 Water Accord and vowed to get the due provincial share of water at all costs.

He said the Indus River was a lifeline for the people of Sindh and, as such, his government had expressed reservation on the construction of any dam, including the Diamer-Bhasha Dam on the river.

The chief minister made these remarks while addressing the agriculture conference 2010 and talking to newsmen at a local hotel. Sindh Minister for Agriculture Syed Ali Nawaz Shah, Sindh Minister for Irrigation Syed Murad Ali Shah, Special Assistant to President of Pakistan on Water and Agriculture Kamal Majidullah, Chairman of the Chamber of Sindh Agriculture Dr Nadim Qamar and other progressive growers were present on the occasion.

Qaim said though they had reservations on the 1991 Water Accord, it was the only document available for water distribution in the province.He said it was agreed in the 1991 Water Accord that a minimum of 10 million acres feet water would be released downstream Kotri but the Irsa had failed to implement this agreement in letter and spirit and as such today, the situation downstream Kotri was miserable.

He said violation of the 1991 Water Accord had caused disparities among the provinces. He said the people of Sindh were badly affected by the acute water shortage. He said keeping in view such difficulties, they had held rounds of talks with the Punjab, the Irsa and other stakeholders and made them realise Sindh s difficulties, the violation of the 1991 Water Accord and finally got the Chashma-Jhelum Link Canal closed.

 We have expressed our reservations on the construction of Diamer-Bhasha Dam, he said. He said the PPP, after coming to power, had closed the chapter on Kalabagh Dam; however, construction of the Thal Canal was completed long before the PPP came into power. But we have been opposing the release of water in the canal.

He said harvesting of wheat starts from March 15 in Sindh and therefore we have asked the Irsa and the Punjab government to give water from the Mangla Dam instead of filling the reservoir, so that the standing crops, especially in lower Sindh and at the tail-ends, could be saved and targets of production of wheat could be achieved. The chief minister expressed his optimism that the situation would improve within days.

Qaim said his government had planned proper conservation, judicious distribution and efficient utilisation of available water resources in view of global scarcity of water. He said technical expertise in this regard was being acquired from China.

He stressed upon the growers to use modern land levelling system on their farmland to avoid wastage of water by flooding their farms.He said the government had planned to build at least eight small dams in Sindh. The Darawat Dam, constructed on the border of Dadu and Jamshoro districts, had been inaugurated by President Asif Zardari to provide water to 50,000 to 80,000 acres land for cultivation.

He said subsidy of Rs 300,000 would be provided on the purchase of large tractor and Rs 200,000 on small tractor. Earlier, Sindh Minister for Agriculture Syed Ali Nawaz Shah said the Sindh government had decided to form a high powered committee comprising experts to resolve problems of the agricultural sector.

Courtesy : The News