The federal government has postponed its controversial channel construction project as part of the Green Pakistan initiative and convened a meeting of the Common Interest Council (CCI) on May 2 to discuss the issue with all the provinces, following demonstrations supported in the Sindh.
According to a notification issued on Friday, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif will chair the 52nd CCI meeting at the Prime Minister’s office.
The session will bring together Darrier Ishaq Dar, Defense Minister Khawaja Asif, Minister Amir Muqam and provincial ministers. The Minister of Finance Muhammad Aurangzeb, the minister of Law Azam Nazeer Tarar and the Minister of Health Mustafa Kamal will also be present, as well as special guests, including ministers for oil, water resources and power.
The meeting comes a day after Prime Minister Shehbaz, flanked by PPP president Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, told a press conference that “no new channel will be built without consensus on the CCI platform”.
Insurance followed weeks of demonstrations in the Federal Government Sindh to build six channels to irrigate the Punjab Cholistan region – a movement of PPP leaders and civil society considered a threat to Sindh water rights.
Bilawal, joined by Sindh Cm Murad Ali Shah and the senior leaders of the PPP, stressed that the construction of the canal must be based on an interprotrovincial consensus. The federal government, he said, would work with all the provinces to create a long-term unified plan for the development of agricultural and aquatic infrastructure.
Friday, in a separate press briefing, Shah declared the problem of the “resolved” channel, urging the demonstrators to transform their demonstrations into celebrations. He declared that the demonstrations had disrupted the economy and recognized the will of the federal government to listen.
“We are going to oppose any project that goes against Sindh’s interests,” said Shah, but added that dialogue and commitment had started to reject the divisions.
