The Supreme Court has ordered Punjab Irrigation department to launch an operation against water thieves with the help of police and register cases against them. A two-member bench headed by Chief Justice Saqib Nisar while hearing a complaint about water theft from Abbasia Link Canal here at the Lahore registry on Sunday warned that the court will not allow stealing of farmers'' water from the canals that tantamount to sucking blood of poor farmers.

Addressing Secretary Irrigation Punjab the chief justice remarked that the government of Punjab was aware that India was stealing Pakistan''s share of water but it didn''t take any step to stop it. The court directed the Punjab government to submit a report on these issues on January 4.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2018