Planned canal construction, impacts on Sindh: Sherry submits adjournment motion in Senate Secretariat

ISLAMABAD: Parliamentary leader of the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) in the Senate Senator Sherry Rehman submits the adjournment motion in the Senate Secretariat on planned canal construction and impacts on Sindh.

In the submitted adjournment motion, Sherry Rehman stated that according to widespread media reports it has come to the attention of the undersigned that the government is seeking to build several barrages, dams and link canals on the Indus River for commercial commodity farming.

She stated that it is a well-known fact that for several years IRSA itself has reported regular water shortages in the Indus River system, which impacts the lives and livelihoods of lower riparian provinces like Sindh.

She stated through the adjournment motion that any attempt to cultivate and irrigate a new command area reportedly covering over 7 million acres with existing deficits in our river system, as well as the scarcity hitting many drought prone areas already, without an open discussion on where the water is coming from will spark fears of famine and further desertification for the people of Sindh.

Sherry Rehman stated that water is a fundamental right for survival, and the Indus River is the sole lifeline not only for the country but also Sindh, which has already been suffering drastic annual shortages downstream of Sukkur and Kotri barrages.

“Given the extreme nature of crippling shortages such an envisaged water diversion plan may incur, it is incumbent that the House adjourn all regular business of the day to discuss this motion,” she stated in her adjournment motion.She stated that it is of urgent public importance and merits national attention at the most immediate opportunity possible.