Country may face serious food crisis if paddy does not get water, warns Dhamrah.

MITHI -- Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Sindh secretary Aajiz Dhamrah has warned of dire consequences if water is not provided to rice cultivation zones of the province and said the country may face a serious food crisis if farmers are not able to cultivate paddy in the absence of water.

Dhamrah told media persons here on Friday that functionaries of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf government had always tried to push Sindh to backwardness through their ill-conceived and anti-people policies.

He deplored that 'incompetent' rulers had no plans to boost agriculture sector and provide relief to farming communities across the country. People of Sindh were ready to launch a massive protest movement against artificial water crisis being created by rulers. 'Not only is the economy at stake but also livelihoods of many farmers across the province,' he said.

Dhamrah said that depriving Sindh of its due share in irrigation water was a cruel joke with people of the province and held chairman of Irsa and high-ups of federal government responsible for the 'banditry' on the waters of Sindh at Taunsa link canal.

He said the agriculture sector had already suffered a lot due to self-centred policies of the rulers imposed on the country and water crisis in tail-end areas, which would further cause destruction for the farmers in a number of districts.

He warned of peoples' backlash if Sindh was denied its due share in water as per the water accord.

He said that keeping in view climate change and its impact on crop pattern in Sindh, the government had already taken a number of initiatives to avoid misuse and wastage of water.

He said that currently all barrages of the province were facing worst water shortage due to which farmers as well as...