Daily Times

Pakistan People’s Party has decided to forward the canals issue to President Asif Zardari to raise the issue with the federal government.

According to media reports, President Zardari will discuss the matter of building six new canals on Indus River with the federal government after Eid ul Fitr.

The president will discuss the matter with the prime minister and demand to convene the session of the constitutional forum the Council of Common Interest (CCI) to discuss the canals’ issue.

The People’s Party has also launched its protest campaign after widespread anti-canal protests across Sindh, posing serious credibility issue to the party’s provincial government.

The federal government didn’t contact the PPP despite protests over the issue, neither it has given serious consideration to the demand of convening the CCI meeting, party sources said.

On Saturday, Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah has strongly opposed the proposed Cholistan Canal project, warning that his party has the power to topple the federal government.

Speaking informally with journalists in Karachi, Murad Ali Shah reiterated that water distribution remains Pakistan’s most critical issue. He claimed that the Indus River System’s water shortage data contradicts federal studies, expressing doubts over the Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA)’s assessments.

“People used to say the Kalabagh Dam was being built, and now the same situation is being created with the Cholistan Canal,” Murad Ali Shah said, adding that Sindh will resist any move that undermines its water rights.

Murad Ali Shah accused Punjab of unilaterally proposing a canal from the Chenab River, arguing that such projects require national consensus. “We raised objections in the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) and will continue to oppose this in the Council of Common Interests (CCI),” he stated.

He also dismissed claims that surplus 27 million acre-feet (MAF) of water was available for the delta, saying: “If that were true, our delta would be flourishing. The reality is different.”

The Sindh CM accused the federal government of manipulating meeting records regarding land allocation for Green Pakistan Initiative. “President Asif Ali Zardari was told that additional land would be cultivated if provinces had no objections. But the official meeting minutes were altered to justify the canal’s construction,” he alleged.