|
|
| June 3, 2002 | Monday | Rabi-ul-Awwal 21,1423 |
Residents reject Thal Canal project
MULTAN, June 2: Representatives of the Thal area rejected at a seminar the proposed Rs30 billion Greater Thal Canal project apprehending that only civil and military bureaucrats will be its beneficiaries after having allotted lands in the command area on nominal rates.
The seminar on ‘Greater Thal Canal Project’ was held here on Sunday under the aegis of the Pakistan Network on Rivers, Dams and People to what its organizers claimed bring all the stakeholders of the project at one forum to present their views on the subject. Political leaders, intellectuals and rights’ activists from Sindh and Seraiki belt of the Punjab attended the seminar.
The intellectuals from Bhakkar and Leiah districts, speaking on behalf of the Thal people, said the leadership of the Punjab was only “dying” for the Thal Canal project because about 0.5 million acres of the command land had been allotted to the either retired or serving civil and military bureaucrats and judges at a nominal rate of Rs350 per acre. They said most of them belonged to the central and northern parts of the province which traditionally enjoyed sway in the power corridors for composing the major section of the establishment, that was, civil and military bureaucracy.
Ustad Ijaz of Bhakkar said since the announcement of the project, land prices in the command area of Thal had increased manifold. He expressed skepticism over the completion of the project, saying “the sole purpose of the project seems to increase the price of the command area land for the benefit of civil and military bureaucracy and judges”.
Mazhar Nawaz of Leiah said the canal would be acceptable to the people of Thal if they were also allotted lands in the command area. But they made it clear that in that case too, they would first seek the consent of Sindhis to build a consensus.
Leaders of Sindhi nationalist political parties rejected the project fearing acute water shortage and consequent starvation in the large part of Sindh. They were also critical of the water accord of 1991, saying Sindhis had no representation in the governments at that time. But even then the accord had not been implemented in letter and spirit so far.
Qazi Ibrar of the Sindhi Awami Tehrik said the highhandedness of the authorities could be judged through the fact that Gen Musharraf had twice directed the Irsa to implement the 1991 water accord, but the authority chairman did not bother to comply with the orders.
The support for the project in the moot was very thin as even most of the Seraiki parties opposed the idea fearing socio-political and ethnical strifes in the area in the face of arrival of thousands of settlers to colonize the command lands of Thal Canal.
The convener of the Pakistan Oppressed Nations’ Movement, Seraikistan unit, Hameed Asghar Shaheen, said the project would be of no benefit for the people of south Punjab in general and of Thal in particular as locals had not been allotted lands there. He produced before the audience revenue record of the command area of Thal which revealed that large tracts of land had been allotted to the influential.
The Pakistan Seraiki Party of Barrister Taj Langah supported the project and criticized the Sindhi nationalists for depriving the Seraiki belt of its due share of water. Remarks of the PSP representatives created uproar among the gathering of people which was against the project.
PSP workers also staged a rally to support the project in front of the Multan Press Club. Participants in the rally were carrying banners and placards inscribed with slogans in favour of the project.
|
|
