HYDERABAD, April 22: The Sindh Water Committee (SWC) has called upon members of the Sindh Assembly to take to the streets and protest on all the available forums to stop construction of the Thal canal.

A meeting of the SWC, held at the Palijo House, Qasimabad, here on Monday, observed that the duty of the assembly members did not end with just the passing of a unanimous resolution against the canal project.

Rasool Bux Palijo presided over the meeting. Abrar Qazi, Syed Qamaruzzaman Shah, Qurban Ali Shah, MNA, Muzafar Sadiq Bhatti, Nazeer Memon, Qurban Ali Panhwar and Dr Nazeer Shaikh were among the participants of the meeting.

Briefing newsmen about the proceedings and decisions taken at the meeting, Mr Palijo told a press conference at the press club here on Tuesday that the meeting discussed the water shortage issue.

He held the establishment and officials of the Water and Power Development Authority for creating artificial water shortage in the province.

He condemned Sindh Chief Minister Ali Mohammad Khan Mahar’s statement that the greater Thal canal had nearly been completed and its construction could not be stopped.

Mr Palejo said it was clear from the chief minister’s statement that he and other authorities concerned had surrendered water and other rights of the province.

He said they should tender resignations as they had failed to protect Sindh’s rights.

He also condemned the statement of the federal minister for water and power, Aftab Ahmad Sherpao, and the Punjab government on the issues of supply of water downstream Kotri, Thal canal and the Kalabagh dam.

He said adequate supply of water downstream Kotri should be ensured.

He told the newsmen that it was decided at the meeting that members of the SWC would soon visit southern districts of the province to express solidarity with area people who had not been supplied water for the last four years.

He said main beneficiaries of the Thal canal would be officials of Wapda and some generals who had been allotted lands in the Thal desert.

Me Palejo said Wapda should be immediately disbanded and its assets should be distributed among the provinces.

He said till the organization was disbanded, its chairman should be removed and replaced by a Sindhi official as since the inception of Wapda no officer from Sindh had held the charge as the chairman.

He hailed those people who had been participating in anti-Thal canal protests.

Mr Palejo announced that the SWC would hold a “Stop Construction of Greater Thal Canal Conference” on May 25 in Hyderabad.

He called for launching a joint struggle by the people to protect the rights of Sindh and save the province from being converted into a desert.