Sindh to fight its case in Ecnec, CCI against approval of new canals: Shoro

HYDERABAD: Sindh Irrigation Minister Jam Khan Shoro has said there is not enough water available in the country to build new canals, and Sindh will fully fight its case in the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (Ecnec) and the Council of Common Interests (CCI) against approval for the construction of six new canals, including the Cholistan Canal, on the Indus River.

Talking to the media after addressing the opening ceremony of the Hydro Information Centre in Hyderabad, the provincial minister said that in terms of the availability of water, the country needs to get more agricultural production by using the available water in a better way instead of new canals.

The federal government has approved the Jalalpur and Cholistan canals under the Central Development Working Party (CDWP), against which Sindh has filed its case in Ecnec and CCI

Shoro said the chief minister of Sindh has also written a letter to Ecnec on the approval of the Cholistan Canal. Whether it is water or not, we will not tolerate interference in any matter of Sindh, he said, adding that IRSA’s own statistics are that there is no water in the system and every year IRSA issues alerts about water shortage twice, so we cannot afford a new command area.

The minister said PPP Chairperson Benazir Bhutto had staged a sit-in against the Kalabagh Dam in Obaro, Ghotki, while she had led the PPP movement against the Greater Thal Canal.

He said that instead of building new canals, the water in the system should be used in a better way so that maximum land can be cultivated and agricultural production can be obtained from it. The federal government should provide facilities to the farmers for drip irrigation.

Shoro stated that with the establishment of the Hydro Informatics Center, basic information about water will be collected on a daily basis and this information will be given to related institutions and other stakeholders. In this center, data will be collected about rains falling in Sindh, their effects, weather conditions and cultivated crops, with which Sindh will be able to manage its water’s due share in a better way.

Sindh Minister for Climate Change Dost Muhammad Rahimoon said agriculture is the means of employment and livelihood of the people of Sindh, for which water is needed; therefore, collecting information about water and agriculture is an important need of the time.