KARACHI: Sindh government on Saturday lodged protest over Indus River System Authority’s controversial permission to the authorities in Punjab for developing a 25 MW hydropower project on Chashma-Jhelum Link Canal.

“Irsa should revoke the biased decision forthwith; else, we’ll protest at all available forums,” said Sindh Minister for Agriculture Ismail Rahu while speaking to reporters at his office.

Irsa has issued a no-objection certificate to M/S CJ Hydropower (Pvt) Limited for developing the project on the CJ Link Canal.

A spokesman for the authority said the decision was taken by four to one majority votes at a meeting as the member from Sindh dissented on the basis that the CJ Canal was an intra-provincial canal and it did not come under Irsa’s purview.

Mr Rahu warned Irsa to act within its mandate as “it has no right to interfere in the matters pertaining to provinces. Sindh government rejects this decision and will not allow Punjab to develop the power plant”.

He said that Sindh was already suffering seriously from water shortages and now “Irsa is hatching conspiracy to make our province barren and infertile”.

Mr Rahu said the action taken at the behest of the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf government and its allies in the federal government was appalling.

“Sindh will not accept theft of its water. The federation has made a joke of such a serious issue as a group of conspirators sitting in Islamabad has made it a habit to routinely take decisions against Sindh’s interests,” he said.

He said that provinces were autonomous in many fields after the passage of the 18th Amendment, thus, “Punjab cannot build the power plant without permission of Sindh”.

The minister claimed that Irsa was “involved in the theft of Sindh’s share in Indus”.

Published in Dawn, October 20th, 2019