BADIN: A complete shutdown was observed in Badin on Sunday on a call given by the ‘Save Badin Action Committee’ over the water crisis persisting in Sindh for months.

All shops, business centres and even medical stores remained closed for more than seven hours and most of the traders joined the protest demonstration at Badar Chowk in the town held for over four hours. A large number of people belonging to various walks of life from Badin district and beyond reached Tando Bago to show solidarity with the protesters.

Speaking to the protesters, PPP leader Dr Dodo Mehri lashed out at irrigation department and Sindh Irrigation and Drainage Authority (Sida) officials for creating an ‘artificial’ water crises in Badin district and other parts of province.

He urged the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) rulers in Sindh to take notice of the continuous protests by people from all walks of life for the past many days.

Dr Mehri said the successive rulers never bothered to focus on the agriculture and irrigation systems, forcing people to come out on road for their survival.

Extending full support to the participants of the demonstration and their historic struggle launched only recently, he asked the Sindh’s rulers to register a strong protest against the federal government which was not serious in providing the due share of water to Sindh.

Khalil Ahmed Bhurgari, a leader of farmers, held the director Sida responsible for the severe shortage of water and threatened with staging a long march from Badin to the Chief Minister House in Karachi if they were not provided with water within the next few days.

He said it was the height of injustice that water meant to irrigate their lands was being diverted to the agriculture farms of the influential people. Noted farmers’ leader Pir Fayaz Hussain Rashidi said the farmers of the tail-end areas of both Kotri and Sukkur barrages were facing the worst water crises due to the unchecked theft of water.

Dilber Sindhi of the Mirza Group held the PPP rulers responsible for the miseries of the people of Badin and rest of the province. He claimed that only Federal Minister Dr Fehmida Mirza and her son MPA Barrister Hasnain Mirza raised the issue of water crises while other lawmakers from Badin themselves were involved in the theft of water.

Azizullah Dero demanded early removal of the Sida director who, according to him, was directly involved in the theft of water through illegal watercourses and minors. He deplored that people in vast areas were forced to migrate to other areas in search of their livelihood after finding no respite from the terrible water shortage for the past many months.

He alleged that the PPP rulers in Sindh instead of meeting their demands for due share of water were adding insult to their injury by constructing new water channels to irrigate the lands of PPP leaders. He warned that if the obstructions were erected by irrigation officials in Akram Wah and Phuleli Canal, thousands of the growers would gather there to remove them to save their future generations.

Syed Khuda Dino Shah in his speech warned rulers of Sindh to stop diverting the flow of water in the newly-constructed minor in the name of PPP chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari. He deplored that obstructions had been erected at Alipur regulator near Matli to lower the flow of water in other canals, which were irrigating thousands of the acres of land in Tando Bago, Talhar, Badin and Shaheed Fazil Rahu talukas.

Addressing on the occasion, a PPP leader and chairman of the Tando Bago town committee extend his full support to the protesting farmers and assured them that he would take up the issue with the top leadership of the PPP on Monday in Karachi.

Other who also spoke on the occasion were Pir Hamid Ali Shah Rashdi, Ameer Azad Panhwar, Sikandar Ali Memon, Allah Bachayo Rahookro, Naserullah Jarwar, Tariq Memon, Anwer Ali Khowaja, Intizar Mehdi, Irfan Mehdi and Syed Juman Shah.

The demonstration resulted in complete suspension vehicular traffic on various roads leading in and out of the town.

Farmers and growers continued their protest in Badin, Golarchi, Khorwah and other towns against the water shortage in the canals of their respective sub-divisions.

Published in Dawn, February 25th, 2019