LAHORE, April 7: The Irrigation and Power Department has once again changed the name of the Thal canal.

Javed Majeed, the Irrigation and Power secretary, told reporters on Sunday at the inauguration ceremony of the BRB Canal distributaries, the change was meant to resolve the controversy around the name.

Originally named the Greater Thal Canal, the project was mentioned in the 1991 Water Accord as a Punjab project. The province had committed flood water supplies to the canal out of its share of 8 MAF national flood supplies. Last August when President Gen Pervez Musharraf broke the ground, it was renamed through an executive order as the Thal Flood Water Canal.

This triggered a provincial row when Sindh refused to recognize the “new project” and opposed it in the Indus River System Authority meeting. Eager to get the project going, the Punjab government has reverted to the old name.

About ascertaining the water requirement to stop sea intrusion down stream Kotri barrage, the secretary said the Council of Common Interest had called for a study by an independent international body.

The report would then be examined by the Punjab and Sindh for an agreement on the requirement, he added.