: The Sindh Taraqi Passand Party Chairman, Dr Qadir Magsi has criticised budgetary allocation for controversial Greater Thal Canal and Diamer-Bhasha and Akhori dams. He said it was injustice with the people of Sindh. The resource distribution on old formula will inflict loss to Sindh in billions of rupees, he said during a meeting of the Central Committee at the Taraqi Pasand House, on Thursday.

After 150 years, irrigation canals in the Krishna delta are going in for major renovation. The works actually started this summer may take another four years to complete. The Chief Minister, Dr Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy would launch the Krishna delta modernisation works at Avanigadda on June 6. He will be arriving here by helicopter from Guntur district at 10 am.

Punjab Irrigation and Power Minister Raja Riaz Ahmed has said that supply of canal water to the farmers at the tail-ends, elimination of water theft as well as corruption from the irrigation department are his top priorities. The purpose of institutional reforms is to transform irrigation department into a farmer-friendly institution to ensure equitable distribution of canal water and complete protection of canal assets, he added.

The Parks and Horticulture Authority (PHA) is all set to prepare a master plan to beautify Lahore Canal to secure nature conservation interests and ensure social and recreational activities. Under the plan, green belts alongside canal will be improved by planning trees and flowers in abundance. To gravitate the attention of public, a number of picnic spots would be set up. Sitting arrangements, big umbrellas and kiosks would also be established. Stalls and makeshift shops would be installed

Ichhamoti River flowing through Pabna town has narrowed down to a canal as unscrupulous people have grabbed over 60 acres out of 84-acre river areas in the town during the last several decades. After takeover of the present caretaker government in January last year, the district administration demolished several illegal structures beside the river and fresh survey also started to recover the river areas but the task seems tough as many illegal occupiers have already made land documents.

The Chief Minister, Dr Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy, will lay the foundation stone for modernisation of delta at Puligadda village in Avanigadda constituency on June 6. The government has undertaken the works of modernising the canals and drains in Krishna and Guntur districts with an estimated cost of Rs 4,500 crore in which Rs 2,130 crore will be spent in Krishna district. Initially, the works in some packages have been awarded to contractors and works have been going on in some sectors as summer is most ideal for completing canal works.

The farmers of three mandals of Tirumalayapalem, Khammam Rural and Kusumanchi, who were not getting irrigation water to their fields through the stage two of Sriramsagar Project demanded water from Rajivsagar Lift Irrigation Scheme (RLIS) or from Krishna-Godavari link canal project.

Sources Irrigation Department have said that the deficiency of water in the canals of southern Punjab would be soon overcome. The water level in the dams has improved due to rains in northern areas and with the melting of ice on the glaciers. They said that the shortage of water in the sowing season of cotton would be removed within three to four days because now the water level in the dams is satisfactory. The water situation in the canals is better as compared to last month. The situation of water in more than 70 percent areas would soon come to normal.

Following an acute water shortage in the main Rohri Canal, the Irrigation department has chalked out a water rotation programme for judicious distribution of water to the growers, the Executive Engineer, Irrigation, Naseer, Hyderabad Division said this on Sunday.