Karachi / Islamabad:
The federal government has decided to set up a high-level negotiation committee led by Darrier ISHAQ DAR to respond to the concerns raised by the Pakistani peoples party (PPP) and other parties concerning the industrial channel project, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) announced on Monday.
According to sources, the Committee will include ministers for planning, water resources, energy and food security, as well as the Prime Minister’s advisor to political affairs, as well as water and agricultural experts. The committee aims to resolve the controversy of the channels through negotiations, they added.
The industrial project Canals has sparked massive events across the Sindh. The PPP Sindh government is firmly against the industrial river canals. PPP president Bilawal Bhutto Zardari threatened to withdraw from the power coalition if the project was not abandoned.
Several other parties and organizations of civil society have also organized sit-ins in various places in the province to oppose the project. They express the apprehension that the new channels would worsen water shortage in the province.
Feeling the gravity of the question, the adviser of Prime Minister Rana Sanaullah spoke with the main minister of the Sindh, Sharjeel Memon, and offered a dialogue to solve the problem. Rana discussed again with Memon on Monday and both parties agreed to continue the negotiation process.
A key leader in the PML-N told L’Express PK Press Club that the concerns of the PPP and other parties on the Canals project and the province’s demonstrations were discussed at an advisory meeting of the Superior Party leader a few days ago.
At the meeting, the president of PML-N Nawaz Sharif and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif agreed that the question should be resolved by negotiations. Consequently, the PML-N decided to form a negotiation committee to engage with the PPP and other stakeholders.
The source said that the Negotiation Committee would be finalized with the Prime Minister’s approval, adding that Shehbaz could also meet the President Asif Ali Zardari and PPP president Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, to find a friendly solution to the issue.
“The government committee will also hold conferences with other parties on this issue,” said the source, adding that these parley would take place in Karachi and Islamabad. “A joint action plan will be decided to solve this problem,” said the source.
According to sources, the Prime Minister could convene a meeting of the Common Interest Board (CCI), if necessary, while the PML-N also weighed the possibility of summoning a conference on all the parties on the project.
Meanwhile, Rana Sana had a telephone conversation with Sharjeel Memon – their second in as many days – to discuss the question of the channels. The two parties agreed to continue the consultation process. Rana stressed that the PML-N undertakes to solve all the problems thanks to a mutual understanding.
He stressed that the share of water from a province could not be transferred to another province under the water agreement. He added that the distribution of water is an administrative and technical affair, which can be addressed at the appropriate administrative and technical levels.
In addition, the Minister of Water Resources, Moeen Wattoo, told the media in Okara that the ambiguities on the issue of new channels and the distribution of water would soon be removed and that the question would be resolved amicably in accordance with the law of the Indus River System Authority (IRSA).
“Those who engage at a point point on the question of water will fail. The Cholistan canal will obtain water from Punjab and, according to IRSA law, no province can prevent another province from using its share of water,” he told journalists.
Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif had instructed Rana Sanaullah to contact PPP leaders and the question would be resolved after discussions.
“We have to sit down and talk about the problems that Pakistan has faced and achieve an understanding to solve them. The PPP is our ally in the Federation and, to God, the water problem will be solved soon,” said the minister.
(With the contribution of our Okara Atiqur Rehman correspondent)
