HYDERABAD, May 25: Speakers at ‘Stop construction of Thal canal conference’ have criticized the federal government for not honouring the unanimous resolution of the Sindh Assembly, which calls for stopping the construction of the greater Thal canal.

They equally criticized the government of Sindh for failing to take the issue to the Council of Common Interests.

The conference was organized at a local hotel on Sunday by the Sindh Water Committee.

The speakers said that usually the barrages of Sindh were filled to capacity in May but this month a water rotation programme was going on in many parts of the province.

They criticized the coalition government of Sindh for not pursuing the resolution of the Sindh Assembly against the construction of the greater Thal canal.

Speaking on the occasion, Sindh People’s Party Parliamentarians president Nisar Ahmed Khuhro said that the federal government was bound to stop the construction of the Thal canal and take the matter to the CCI.

He said that when development scheme of Keti Bandar could be shelved, there was no reason why the Thal canal project could not be abandoned.

He charged that a weak government was purposely installed in Sindh so that it should not be able to take a strong stand on the burning issues of the province.

President of the Sindh Water Committee and chief of the Awami Tehrik, Rasool Bux Palijo, said that it was a duty of those who were drinking water of the River Indus to raise their voice against the construction of the greater Thal canal.

He said that the people from all walks of life were unanimous on the issue and there was not a slightest difference of opinion between any party or organization on the matter.

He said that it was not the duty of nationalists forces alone to fight for the rights of Sindh.

He accused a particular province of having sold out its rivers to India and now punishing Sindh for its own crimes.

He said that the money spent on the Thal canal project should be recovered from those people who had started its construction without proper approval.

He made it clear that the struggle against Thal canal would continue which will include strikes, protest demonstration and other peaceful means.

PPP leader Taj Haider said that all the people living in Sindh and regardless of the language they spoke should get unite on one platform on the issue.

Chairman, Sindh Taraqqi Pasand Party, Dr Qadir Magsi, said that the construction of the Thal canal was not a political issue but the very survival of Sindh depended on it.

Others who spoke on the occasion included Dr Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal leader Khalid Mehmood Soomro, Maulana Asadullah Bhutto, Qamaruzzaman Shah and Qurban Ali Shah.