Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah on Saturday asserted that the federal government would not be able to get the contentious Cholistan canals project approved from the Council of Common Interests (CCI) because of his strong arguments against the move.

Chief of the Army Staff Gen Asim Munir and Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz inaugurated the ambitious Cholistan project to irrigate south Punjab’s lands on February 15 amid public uproar and strong reservations in Sindh.

The contentious $3.3 billion Green Pakistan Initiative (GPI) launched by the federal government to develop six canals to irrigate 1.2 million acres of “barren land” in south Punjab has been strongly opposed by the PPP, which is in power in Sindh, as well as farmers and other stakeholders. Lawyers warned the federal government yesterday that they would initiate protests if the planned construction of canals in Cholistan was not stopped within a week.

Addressing party workers in Thatta today, the chief minister said, “People say that the majority in CCI will go against Sindh. I alone can handle them in CCI.”

“I am not powerful but I have reasons to knock them down and they lack answers to my rationale [in CCI] otherwise they would have gotten it approved in 2018-2023.

“They will not be able to get it approved even now,” he said, assuring workers that the PPP would defend people’s rights.

He said the opposition was attacking the PPP for supporting the present government because they want to get a free hand — in case the PPP decides in haste and after being “blackmailed” by the opposition — and to do whatever they want to do with the country.

He specifically mentioned the Cholistan and Chaubara canals — both projects have been questioned by the Sindh government in the CCI — to explain to workers how the PPP was defending Sindh’s share of water in the Indus River.

“It is not like that the federal government has started building the project but it wants to start construction,” CM Shah said while mentioning that people sitting in Islamabad must understand one thing.

“It is basically that all those people who are drinking water from the Indus and irrigate their land for agriculture purposes are the actual owners of these rivers,” he said, adding that neither the provincial nor federal government was the “owner of the rivers”.

“Let me raise slogans against canals,” he said when party workers interrupted his speech with anti-canal project slogans.

He said it was an internationally accepted principle that lower riparian and tail-end users have the first right over river water.

“And if anyone has that right first it is the people of Thatta and Sujawal,” he said alluding to these two coastal districts where sea intrusion was taking place and agricultural land had been devoured by the sea.

He told the gathering that party workers must protest to express their feelings and they have to show their force.

“What is important now? Is it important that canals are stopped or is it important that opponents’ campaign and propaganda against PPP should become successful? They want to run a campaign against PPP. We are not against anyone and we are supporting those who are protesting,” he said.

He said that the Indus River System Authority (Irsa) took a decision to issue a Water Availability Certificate (WAC) on Jan 17, 2024, amidst a split decision because the Sindh government’s appointed member in Irsa (Ehsan Leghari) had informed it that injustice was being committed against the province.

Shah said the opposition wanted to create a gulf between the masses and the PPP because it was in his party’s absence that Irsa took the Jan 17, 2024, decision.

He made it clear that the PPP would not let any project begin on the Indus River upstream.

“All these five rivers belong to us,” he declared.

He pointed out that the opposition held the president responsible for approving the canal project. Shah said that everything should be settled after the president, in his address to the joint session of parliament in March, made it clear that he could not support canals.

Rs5bn development schemes for each district

CM Shah said the Sindh government had launched a Sindh-wide development campaign, announcing Rs5 billion in development schemes for each district of Sindh with Rs1bn for small-scale, community-driven projects on recommendations of PPP workers.

He said deputy commissioners would prepare cost estimates for proposals to be incorporated in the upcoming provincial budget.

He talked about his government’s achievements in infrastructure and said the Karachi-Thatta Highway was built on a public-private partnership model. He also provided updates on key road projects in the region, including the 84-kilometre Sindh Coastal Highway, the 65km Thatta-Garo Road, and the 40km Thatta-Jhimpir Road.

CM Shah announced as being operational the Liaquat Medical University College in Thatta and informed the audience that 2.1 million homes were built in Sindh for flood victims with residents receiving full ownership. He said the PPP chairman would address a public gathering in Hyderabad on April 18 and workers should attend it in large numbers.