HYDERABAD:The Sindh Chamber of Agriculture (SCA) has called for declaring Khairpur, Sukkur and some other districts of Sindh as calamity-hit in view of the massive damage and destruction to the crops which had been entailed by the torrential showers.
A meeting of the SCA, headed by its President Syed Miran Muhammad Shah, brother of Federal Minister Syed Navid Qamar, on Thursday also demanded waiver of all taxes and loans of the affected growers.
The chamber said the Sindh Revenue Department should immediately start a survey of the affected lands so that the process of compensation through the waivers and other forms of support by the provincial government could be started without delay.
“The rains destroyed 95 percent of the date crops,” claimed Shah, referring to the devastation in Sukkur and Khairpur districts.
He claimed that the date growers had sustained billions of rupees in losses.
According to him, the crops like cotton, chillies and other vegetables had also been destroyed by the showers.
The SCA also demanded that the saline water canals should be restored and regular desiliting of those canals, including Left Bank Outfall Drain (LBOD), should be carried out.
They also called for fixing Rs 10,000 per maund buying rate for cotton crop.