In Bagh-o-Bahar, landlords in conspiracy with a sub engineer from the irrigation department Mr Ahmed Deen dug an initially 15 feet wide ditch to measure 60 feet to steal water from stream which submerged a 90 acre cotton field.
Approximately 90 acre of cotton field was flooded, damaging the crop and rendering it fruitless causing the farmers to deal with a financial loss of hundreds of thousands of rupees.
Some of the smaller farmers had obtained raw material for their field on loans with interest while some had apparently invested their life savings in the fields.
Farmers have requested Punjab chief minister to take notice of the matter and penalize those responsible and also compensate their losses.
Earlier, the Punjab irrigation department executed a plan to modernize its measurement and communication systems by setting up sensors to monitor real-time water flow in the channels under its command.
