Hundreds of farmers from the tail-end areas of Aab-i-Hayyat and 1-L canals in Pakistan demonstrated outside the irrigation senior engineer office over the non-availability of irrigation water on Monday.

They protested after the irrigation chief engineer arrived.

Among the leaders present were Pakistan Saraiki Party (Kissan Wing) President Sardar Abdul Qayyum Shakir, numbardars Manzoor Mohsin and Chaudhry Muhammad Afzal, reported Dawn News.

The protesters told the Pakistani newspaper that the water scarcity in Aab-e-Hayyat and 1-L canals had resulted in economic crisis and rendered the meadows of Cholistan barren.

They urged the government to retrieve these meadows from the contractor and allocate the land to inhabitants instead of favouring corporate farming.