KARACHI: The Sind Provincial Assembly which had raced through the Finance Bill in just 20 minutes on June 27 last and consumed less than 200 minutes to pass 11 Government Bills on Wednesday [July 5], deliberated for a little over two hours yesterday [July 6] before adopting a private resolution urging the Government to repeal the Goats Restriction Ordinance of 1959. Earlier … the House took up an adjournment motion … to discuss the recent interim agreement on Indus water signed between the Chief Minister of Sind and the Governor of Punjab.

....[T]he Leader of the House, Mr Mumtaz Ali Bhutto, explained that the extra water proposed to be used by Chashma-Jhelum link was at pres­ent flowing into the sea. He also said that it was proposed to use this water for soaking the link-canal and not for actual irrigation… . It will pass through the canal and flow back into the Indus, he said. Besides … [he] said Sind was having its full supplies of water. The shortage in certain areas … was not because of supplies but due to other shortcomings in the irrigation system. The Chief Minister also assured that no sooner the water ta­ble in the Indus had fallen, diversion to Cha­­sh­m­­a-Jhelum link would be stopped.

Published in Dawn, July 7th, 2022