four more children were ill and at least two toddlers died in Abbottabad on Thursday after consuming apples treated with pesticide.

The specifics include that as the children were traveling home from their studies at the madrassa, they ate sprayed apples from a garden. As a result, six of the children’s conditions worsened, and they were sent to a local hospital right away.

Four children were in serious condition and two died in the hospital while receiving treatment. Five-year-old Fanan and seven-year-old Hina Shehzadi were named as the deceased.

Jam Khan Shoro, the minister of Sindh irrigation, urged Islamabad on Thursday to guarantee the province’s continuous water supply, stressing that there should never be a water scarcity for agricultural production.

Speaking on the matter, the minister stated that there is a disagreement with the federation about Sindh’s water scarcity.

“The Nara and Rohri canals are getting 7,200 cusecs of water, while there is up to a 70% shortage of water in other canals,” he stated.

Shoro continued, saying that as part of the rotation scheme, the government is guaranteeing the availability of potable water and crops.

According to him, the government is developing a different plan to remove rainwater from the Hakro, Dhoro Puran, and Left Bank outfall drains.

“A large gate will be erected at RD 210 as part of the plan,” he stated, adding that the responsible deputy commissioners of the aforementioned drains have been asked to submit a report.

He gave DC Mirpurkhas instructions to clear obstructions from the Puran and Dhoro drains.

The Indus River System Authority (IRSA) was requested by the Water and Power Development Authority (Wapda) to release water from the Tarbela Dam above the 1,420-foot storage level one day prior.

The move, according to a Wednesday story in The News, is expected to jeopardize Sindh’s seeding of rice and cotton, the two principal Kharif crops.

The paper states that Wapda’s orders for IRSA were given against the backdrop of the tunnel project’s (T3) need for water, as using water from low-level outputs would impede development.

During the early Kharif period, which runs from April 1 to June 10, Sindh urgently requires water supplies from Tarbela Dam at Indus. Should the output of cotton crops be impacted in 2024–2025, the textile industry would need to import it at a cost in the billions of dollars.

Concerning Wapda’s inability to finish its tunnel projects, Sindh voiced its concerns during the IRSA technical committee meeting.

In order to plant rice and cotton on schedule, the provincial authorities emphasized during the conference that the Tarbela reservoir’s low-level exits should discharge the maximum amount of water possible.

It was made quite evident that there isn’t any water at all, not even for drinking, at the Kotri Barrage, the last barrage on the Indus.

Shoro told The News that the matter would be discussed at the advisory committee meeting on April 2. But Sindh must release as much water as possible early in the Kharif season; otherwise, the province will suffer an unparalleled loss in the yield of its Kharif crops.

“We oppose storing water at the level that Wapda has requested. According to the water pact, Sindh needs to discharge the most water possible; if there is a shortage, it should be shared with all the provinces, the minister stated.

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Up to 47,000 wheat bags from the government storehouse in the Khairpur region of Sindh have vanished.

Details indicate that the Rs800 million worth of wheat sacks that the Sindh government had purchased vanished from the godown.

The Sindh Food Department has suspended three food officers in response to the issue. The district food controller in Khairpur, the in-charge food supervisor, and the food inspector are among the suspended authorities.

Wheat that was kept in government storage facilities in Sindh has disappeared before.

Thousands of metric tons of wheat disappeared from government facilities in Naushehro Feroze, Sindh, in 2022.

The Sindh cabinet resolved on March 20 to set a target of 900,000 tons for wheat procurement.

Provincial ministers, including Dr. Azra Fazal Pechuho, Nasir Shah, Sardar Shah, Saeed Ghani, Jam Khan Shoro, Zia Lanjar, Mohammad Bux Mahar, Haji Ali Hassan Zardari, and Zulfiqar Shah, as well as advisors, including Babal Khan Bahyo, Ehsan Mazari, and Najmi Alam, and the new Chief Secretary, Asif Hyder Shah, Advocate General, Prosecutor General, and others attended the meeting, which was held at CM House.