- PPP to organize gatherings against the project on March 25.
- Khuhro says that projecting an attack on Sindh water rights.
- “Cholistan Project more dangerous than the Kalabagh dam.”
The Pakistani peoples’ party (PPP), a key ally of the Pakistani Muslim League in power (PML-N), announced a protest movement against the six-channel project proposed by the federal government, qualifying the “illegal” initiative.
Addressing a press conference in Karachi on Friday, President of the PPP Sindh, Nisar Khuhro, said that the party would organize protest gatherings in all seats in the district on March 25 (Tuesday) against the controversial project.
“The project is illegal and should not be built … We will hold rallies and protest in each street against it,” he said.
The federal government plans to build six channels on the Industry river to irrigate the Cholistan desert – a project that was rejected by its main Ally PPP and other nationalist parties in the Sindh.
According to government sources, the estimated cost of the canal and the Cholistan system is RS211.4 billion and thanks to the project, thousands of sterile land acres can be used for agricultural purposes and 400,000 acres of land can be cultivated, news has reported.
Almost all political and religious parties, nationalist groups and civil society organizations organized generalized rallies through the Sindh against the controversial plan.
The party led by Bilawal Bhutto has repeatedly expressed reserves on the project, President Asif Ali Zardari warning the government that some of its unilateral policies cause “serious pressure” on the federation.
He denounced the government’s unilateral decision to prune more canals in the Industry River system despite strong opposition from federative units.
“A proposal that I, as president, cannot support,” said Zardari and urged the “government to abandon this current proposal and work with all stakeholders to offer viable and lasting solutions based on unanimous consensus among the units units”.
Addressing the supplier today, Khuhro said that the federal government had rekindled memories of the dictatorship by starting the construction of the Cholistan canal without approval of any constitutional forum.
In the past, he said, former President Pervez Musharraf has built the Grand Canal Thal by an executive decree, and now the PML-N government is adopting a similar approach.
“The Punjab government has also committed an unconstitutional act by allocating funds in the budget of controversial channels,” he added.
He noted that the project was an “attack on Sindh water rights”, and the PPP would fight against them by constitutional and democratic means.
A resolution against these projects has been adopted in the Sindh Assembly, and the PPP will contact political parties, nationalist organizations, lawyers and civil society to form a joint resistance front, he added.
Khuhro warned that the Cholistan Canal project is even more dangerous for the Sindh than the controversial Kalabagh dam because it could make the province sterile.
He said that, as was the PML-N government, had to withdraw from the Kalabagh dam in the past, he should also abandon these channel projects.
Khuhro added that President Zardari declared these projects as a unilateral decision of the federal government, proving that the president is not involved.
The PPP chief urged the people of the Sindh and all the segments of society to unite in the fight against these projects to ensure the protection of water from the Indus river.
