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• Rather than irrigating desert, new canals will render already fertile regions barren, says Kaiser Bengali
• Zulfikar Jr urges Urdu-speaking community to oppose controversial scheme
KARACHI: Members of civil society, along with politicians and activists, staged a rally on Sunday in protest over the federal government’s plan to construct new canals on the Indus River.
A large number of people, including women, began marching from Frere Hall towards the Karachi Press Club, where several prominent personalities delivered speeches.
The participants were carrying placards and banners inscribed with slogans against the canals project.
Speaking on the occasion, architect and urban planner Arif Hasan questioned how canals could be constructed without the consensus of all provinces, calling it a violation of the Constitution.
He said that due to sea intrusion in the delta, around 3,000 families have migrated to Karachi’s Rehri Goth and other parts of the province, as they no longer have access to fresh drinking water.
Economist Kaiser Bengali said the canals were presumably being built to irrigate the lands of Cholistan, but warned that “nature’s system cannot be changed”.
Citing the example of Africa, he noted that even the Sahara Desert could not be turned into fertile land. He added that instead of irrigating desert areas, the canals would lead to a shortage of water in already fertile regions, turning them barren.
This, he warned, would result in food shortages, especially as farmers in Punjab are already protesting over the extremely low prices of wheat.
Speaking on the occasion, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto Jr said this was not just issue of Sindh only or nationalists but it was an issue of all of us, as water scarcity would also affect Karachi’s water supply.
He urged the Urdu-speaking community to raise their voices against the construction of the canals.
Social worker Faisal Edhi of the Edhi Foundation said that he had recently visited Badin, where sea intrusion had spread over 12 kilometers. He warned that the lack of freshwater would further devastate the Indus delta.
Lawyer Shahab Usto of the Sindh Petitions Forum, one of the rally organisers, alleged that in the name of corporate farming, Sindh’s water and land were being usurped.
Dr Ali Azhar of the Pakistan Medical Association stated that the canals would not only destroy Sindh but also Karachi. “When Karachi is destroyed, the entire country will suffer,” he said.
Zain Shah of Sindh United Party asked against whom, the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) was holding rallies. He claimed the PPP was merely trying to “cool down” the political temperature in Sindh, while simultaneously giving lands for corporate farming.
Azhar Jamil of the Concerned Citizens Alliance — one of the rally’s organisers — along with Jamaat-i-Islami leader Hafiz Nasrullah, Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf leader Dr Jaipal, Prof Saleem Memon and others also spoke.
Meanwhile, a number of activists belonging to the Jeay Sindh Mahaz also staged a rally in front of the KPC. They also demanded that the controversial canals project be shelved forthwith.
Published in Dawn, April 21st, 2025
