Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah on Thursday termed the diversion of gas produced in Sindh to other provinces as unconstitutional and said it incurred heavy financial losses to the province.

Presiding over a session convened to prepare for the meeting of Council of Common Interests, which will be held in Islamabad on Friday, the chief minister said that out of the 2,800 million cubic feet per day (MCFD) gas produced by Sindh, more than 1,000 mmcfd is diverted to other provinces.

“If this 1,000 mmcfd gas of Sindh is not diverted to other provinces, Sindh can produce 5,000 megawatts of electricity from it at a rate of Rs8 per unit against Rs15 per unit which we are charged," the chief minister explained.

Shah said that due to the practice of diverting gas away from Sindh, the people of the province were incurring heavy financial losses.

The chief minister said, "Article 158 of the Constitution (Priority of requirements of natural gas) recognises precedence of the right of utilisation by the gas-producing province. This right of our people has been denied."

The gas produced by Sindh should be utilised for the generation of electricity for domestic and industrial purposes, he said.

Currently, there was no provision of gas or electricity in thousands of villages across the province, the chief minister said.

Demanding the implementation of Article 158, Shah said that a resolution to this effect would be presented before the Sindh Assembly.

As an alternative to the diversion of gas away from Sindh, Shah said that the provinces deficient in their supply should import the commodity in order to fulfil their requirements.

He urged the federal government to announce province specific Gas Allocation and Management Policy (GAMP), a draft for which has been prepared by the Sindh government.

During the meeting, the national water policy was also discussed.

The Sindh chief minister said he would accept the new policy if observations of the provincial government ─ which include securing kaccha areas, preservation of delta areas ─ are incorporated.