PPP Sindh Council rejects new canals on Indus River

The Pakistan Peoples Party’s (PPP) Sindh Council on Saturday rejected the federal government’s plan to build six new canals on the Indus River and warned that Sindh would not accept any new canal project in the Indus River system.

The PPP’s Sindh Council meeting was held at the Chief Minister House and chaired by the party chairman, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari.

The meeting also discussed preparations for a public gathering on April 4, 2025 in Garhi Khuda Bakhsh to mark the 46th death anniversary of the PPP founder, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto.

Sindh PPP President Nisar Ahmad Khuhro, Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah, former CM Syed Qaim Ali Shah, Sindh PPP General Secretary Waqar Mehdi, former provincial minister Manzoor Wassan, Sarfraz Rajar, Noman Sheikh, Sindh Local Government Minister Saeed Ghani, Planning and Development Minister Syed Nasir Shah, Senior Transport and Information Minister Sharjeel Inam Memon, Excise Minister Mukesh Kumar Chawla, Law Minister Ziaul Hassan Lanjar, former Sindh Assembly speaker Agha Siraj Durrani, Lal Chand Ukrani, Shahida Rehmani and others attended the meeting.

Canals project

Addressing the meeting, Bilawal reiterated the PPP’s stance against any new canal project on the Indus River. He expressed support for resolutions passed by the PPP’s Sindh Council opposing the federal government’s proposed canals, emphasising that the party had always raised its voice against the projects that threatened Sindh’s water rights.

He stressed that the PPP had always been at the forefront of advocating for Sindh’s rights and would continue to represent the people on critical issues like water distribution.

Khuhro termed the six canals project a deliberate attempt to deprive Sindh of its fair share of water. He demanded that the federal government immediately withdraw the plan and convene a meeting of the Council of Common Interests (CCI) to address Sindh’s concerns.

The CM echoed these concerns, stating that the province would never accept any new canal project under the Indus River system.

He pointed out that there was already a severe water shortage in the system and questioned the source of water for these new canals.

Murad demanded that water distribution be carried out strictly under the Paragraph 2 of the 1991 Water

Accord. Mehdi said the PPP had opposed the canal project from the beginning, even before other political parties became aware of it. He reaffirmed the PPP’s commitment to safeguarding Sindh’s water rights.

Resolutions

The Sindh Council of the PPP passed several resolutions during the meeting. A resolution paid homage to Bhutto in connection with his coming 46th death anniversary and reaffirmed the party’s commitment to ensuring a massive public gathering at Garhi Khuda Bakhsh on April 4.

The body categorically rejected in a resolution the federal government’s plan for six new canals.

In another resolution, it demanded the implementation of the 1991 Water Accord. The resolution called for releasing at least 10 million acre feet of water downstream the Kotri Barrage.

The council demanded that the Chashma-Jhelum and Taunsa-Panjnad link canals, which were meant for use during the floods only, should remain closed except during the flood conditions. It also called for a telemetry system to monitor the water flow from Taunsa to Guddu Barrage to ensure transparency.

Another resolution demanded that the chairman of the Indus River System Authority (Irsa) and the federal representative in authority be appointed from Sindh to ensure fairness in the water distribution decisions.

The PPP’s Sindh Council also dismissed allegations of the Grand Democratic Alliance (GDA) regarding the canal project, calling them baseless political point-scoring. The PPP urged the GDA to apologise to the people of Sindh for supporting the Kalabagh Dam and backing military regimes in the past.

It also urged the federal government to fulfil its constitutional obligation by convening a meeting of the Council of Common Interests every three months to discuss water-related issues.

The PPP body also praised Pakistan’s security forces for their successful operation in the Jaffar Express hijacking incident.

The participants of the meeting expressed confidence in the leadership of Bilawal, President Asif Ali Zardari and Faryal Talpur. They pledged to continue working under Bilawal’s leadership to uphold the vision of Benazir Bhutto, strengthen democracy, and ensure the supremacy of Parliament and Constitution, and rule of the law.

The PPP reaffirmed its commitment to a prosperous Sindh and a stronger Pakistan, vowing to fight for the rights of the province and its people.