KARACHI:Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah and Federal Minister for Water Syed Khursheed Shah, along with provincial ministers, Tuesday discussed waterlogging and increasing water table issues along the left bank of the River Indus in the post-flood scenario and decided to impose a ban on rice cultivation, otherwise lands would be devastated.
The meeting was attended by provincial ministers, Manzoor Wassan, Sharjeel Inam Memon, Syed Nasir Shah, Jam Ikram, Chief Secretary Sohail Rajput, Secretary to CM Raheem Shaikh, Secretary Irrigation Sohail Qureshi, Secretary Agriculture Aijaz Mahesar, Commissioner Sukkur Mustafa Phul, Commissioner Mirpurkhas Shafiq Mahesar and deputy commissioners of different districts through video link.
The meeting observed that the issue of water logging has remained persistent for a long. This situation has been further aggravated by the recent floods which have increased the water table further. The participants of the meeting observed that the growers of perennial canals such as the Ghotki Feeder, Rohri Canal, Nara Canal, and Khairpur West and East feeders were cultivating rice despite a complete ban.
The chief minister, keeping in view the gravity of the situation decided to impose a ban on the cultivation of rice crops in the districts of Ghotki, Sukkur, Khairpur, Sanghar, Mirpurkhas, Umerkot, Shaheed Benazirabad, Naushehro Feroz, Matiari, Hyderabad, Tando Allahyar, Tando Muhammad Khan (Partially), and Badin (Partially).
Mr. Shah directed the concerned deputy commissioners to depute their assistant commissioners, mukhtiarkars, and tapers to advise the grower to opt for other Kharif crops in place of the Rice Crop which has been banned for cultivation.
The chief minister directed the Senior Member Board of Revenue to issue a notification under the West Pakistan Rice (Restrictions On Cultivation) Ordinance, 1959, imposing a complete ban on Rice Cultivation for the year 2023 on perennial Canals – Ghotki Feeder, Rohri Canal, Nara Canal, and Khairpur West and East feeders.
Meanwhile, Mr. Shah directed Irrigation dept to release water in time so that growers of the left bank of the river Indus could grow other crops.
