STPP gives strike call for Dec 18 in Sindh against canal project

The Sindh Taraqi Pasand Party (STPP) has given a call to observe a strike in the province on December 18 against the federal government’s controversial plan to build new canals to draw additional water from the Indus River for farming purposes.

The strike call was given by STPP Chairman Dr Qadir Magsi while speaking to participants of a march held on Sunday from Ghaghar Phatak to Fawara Chowk near Saddar to protest against the new canal project of the government.

Dr Magsi told the participants of the march that farmlands in Sindh would be rendered barren if new canals were built on the Indus River. He said they would fight hard to safeguard Sindh which was their motherland.

He told the protest march that the government of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif was going to build six new canals on the Indus River. He added that the new canals, if built, would cause a severe shortage of river water in the province.

He said the farmlands in the tail-end areas in Badin and Thatta districts in Sindh would be hit hard due to the resulting drought if the new canals were constructed by the federal government.

The STPP leader expressed resolve to face any violent force to protect the water in the Indus River.

He cautioned the Sindh government of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) to clarify its position on the controversial canal project. The ruling PPP in the province was obligated to persuade the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz-led federal government to refrain from executing the controversial canal project, he said.

“The natives of Sindh would come forward to protect their water rights if the Peoples Party failed to fulfil its obligations,” he said.

Dr Magsi appealed to the concerned residents of Karachi and the rest of Sindh to launch activism to safeguard their water rights. He announced that the peaceful agitation movement would continue till the government announced annulment of its controversial canal plan.