HYDERABAD: The Sindh Abadgar Ittehad (SAI) has lamented that Sindh government’s objections to the construction of six canals under the Green Pakistan Initiative has apparently been ignored and this ambitious project supported by Punjab government has been allowed which aims to irrigate arid lands of Cholistan region at the cost of agriculture of Sindh.

The SAI president Nawab Zubair Talpur said in an open letter addressed to Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, chairman of Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) that he should personally take up the issue to stop the construction of the canals for the sake of livelihood of millions of people of Sindh.

In the letter, a copy of which was received by Dawn on Tuesday, Mr Talpur said that phase-I of the project for the construction of 176km-long Cholistan canal and extension of other five canals being taken up under Green Pakistan Initiative was discussed at a meeting of the Central Development Working Party on Oct 12.

The meeting chaired by federal minister for planning Ahsan Iqbal quietly referred the Rs231 billion project for Cholistan canal system to the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council without making the decision public, he said.

SAI president writes to PPP chairman

He said that the Sindh government’s objections had apparently been ignored. With the completion of Cholistan canal system and extension of five other canals, there would be acute shortage of water in Sindh as all the canals would draw water from the Indus River system.

He said that Sindh was already deprived of its water share agreed upon in 1991 water distribution accord and accused Punjab irrigation department of always violating the agreement by operating flood canals Chashma-Jhelum and Taunsa-Panjand canals even during periods of water scarcity in Sindh.

Both the canals were flood channels and under the agreement the Punjab government bound not to draw water for them unless there was flood in the Indus. But, he said, both the canals were operated even when barrages in Sindh were running short of water.

He said that if all the six canals were constructed as per plan of the federal and Punjab governments then fertile lands of Sindh would surely become barren. “It is hence urged the PPP chairman take up the issue at personal level to stop construction of the six canals mentioned above for the sake of livelihood of [millions of] people of Sindh,” he said.

He said that PPP had waged struggles in past and succeeded in stopping construction of Kalabagh dam. The party should exhibit the same spirit in getting the construction of the disputed canals adverse to interests of people of Sindh stopped. The Sindh Assembly might also pass a resolution on this burning issue, he said.

Published in Dawn, November 6th, 2024