Sindh will not accept any cut in its water share, says Wassan

The current acute shortage of irrigation water poses a grave threat to the very survival of the agricultural economy of Sindh.

This was stated in a statement issued on Friday that quoted Adviser to the Sindh Chief Minister on Agriculture Manzoor Hussain Wassan as saying that the province had been facing water shortage up to 53 per cent against its due share according to the Water Apportionment Accord 1991.

He said various crops in the farmlands of Sindh would be damaged if the situation of water shortage persisted. Wassan said water had disappeared from irrigation channels in the province and the resultant situation was a grave threat to the agricultural economy of Sindh. Crops of mangoes, chillies, rice and dates in Sindh could be damaged due to water shortage, he lamented.

The agriculture adviser said that from October 2018 to March 2022, Sindh had received 189.29 million acre feet less supply of water than its due share as per the 1991 accord. He said during the past regime of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, Sindh had received 16 per cent less water in the Kharif season while it had faced 22 per cent water shortage in the Rabi season.

Wassan claimed that the production of a number of important crops in Sindh, including vegetables and fruits, had sustained serious damage during Imran Khan’s government. He said the production of wheat, rice and cotton had declined in Sindh last year due to water shortage and growers had become the ultimate sufferers of the situation.

He added that the former prime minister exploited the growers in the country. The cultivation on fertile lands of Sindh would not have declined, had there not been water shortage, he remarked. Wassan said that Sindh should be supplied with its due water share as per the water accord of 1991 and any curtailment in this regard would not be accepted.