The Common Interest Council (CCI) rejected the federal government’s proposal on Monday to build new industrial river channels, reversing a previous decision by the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) taken in February.
“No new canal will be built without mutual understanding and consensus among all the provinces,” said a release from the Prime Minister’s office after the meeting chaired by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.
The high-level meeting, convened early at the request of the Sindh government, was followed by the chief ministers of the four provinces, the Darrier Minister Ishaq Dar, the Minister of Defense Khawaja Asif, the federal minister Ameer Muqam and other officials.
The CCI has agreed to withdraw the provisional approval of the project and announced the training of a federal-provincial committee to propose long-term agricultural and water management solutions in accordance with the 1991 water agreement and the 2018 water policy.
“The Government has undertaken to resolve all amicable water disputes, ensuring that the concerns of any province are discussed by reasonable diligence,” added the press release.
Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, Ali Amin Gandapur’s chief minister, praised this decision, saying: “It was decided to solve the problems thanks to a mutual understanding.”
He confirmed that some of KP’s requests, including tobacco recognition as an official harvest and examination of the National Finance Commission (NFC), would be added to the next CCI program.
The decision comes in the midst of generalized demonstrations through the Sindh on the Canals project. The six -channel construction plan at an estimated cost of 211.4 billion rupees was faced with strong resistance from the Sindh government and nationalist groups, which warned that this decision would deprive the Sindh from its legitimate water.
The sit-ins and the blockade on key highways, which now last more than 10 days, disturbed the movement of goods between the Sindh and the Punjab, causing fuel shortages and food supplies. Blocked carriers reported growing damage to vehicles while demonstrations continued without resolution.
Despite the insurance of the PM Shehbaz to the president of the PPP, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, which no new channel would carry out without consensus, the demonstrations on the ground have intensified, highlighting the deeply rooted mistrust and the regional tensions on the distribution of water.
