HYDERABAD, Feb 22: The irrigation experts and growers of Sindh have expressed concern over the convening of the Ecnec meeting in Islamabad on Feb 28 which is expected to legalize the illegal exercise jointly launched by Punjab and Wapda to construct greater Thal canal.

They also expressed anguish on the silence of the Sindh government for providing legal support to this illegal act.

In a joint statement, they said that it was the most controversial irrigation project of the country, which was being constructed in the garb of Thal flood canal.

They said that the project had been rejected at least twice during the British regime and warned that the people of Sindh would not remain silent on this “conspiracy against the already devastated agrarian economy of the province”.

They called upon the Sindh government to give priority to the interests of Sindh and adopt a courageous stand on this issue.

They also urged the federal authorities to cancel the meeting of Ecnec.

They said that it was imperative under the 1991 Water Accord to refer the project of any new reservoir on River Indus to Indus River System Authority (Irsa) before launching it besides determining the quantum of water to be released below Kotri.

The better course for the present government, the irrigation experts and growers said, was to defer this controversial scheme to future elected government.

The signatories to the joint statement were Dr Mir Amanullah Talpur, chairman, Sindhi Agriculture Forum, Mir Mohammad Baloch, Sindh Abadgar Board, Nawab Noor Ahmed Talpur, agriculturist of Mirpurkhas, Mr Ali Ahmed Qureshi, former president, Dadu Bar Association, and Haji Shafi Mohammad Nizamani, landlord of Badin district.

Meanwhile, former federal minister and a central PPP leader, Nawab Yousuf Talpur, in a separate statement, has taken serious note of the launching of another controversial project, Thal flood canal, which has created disappointment among the people of Sindh.

He wondered how Wapda could embark upon executing a project of water reservoir prior to its clearance by Irsa and assessment of its impact on Indus Delta and without the preparation of its feasibility report.

He also took strong exception to the reports that the said project was cleared by Central Development Working Party last week in the absence of representatives of the Sindh government and without addressing a host of reservations recorded by the federal Planning division on the project in its working paper.

He opined that with this sort of conduct on the part of Sindh government, mistrust in the minds of people of the province would appear not only against the Sindh government but also against the military regime.