CCI decision

Monday finally saw some sense prevail with the Council of Common Interests (CCI) delivering a long-overdue but crucial verdict: the federal government’s proposal for the construction of new canals – including the contentious Cholistan project – stands rejected. By overturning the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council’s (ECNEC) February approval, the CCI has restored a key principle of federal governance: that natural resources, especially water, must be managed through consensus, not fiat. For the past many weeks, there have been protests – which still continue – over the plan to build six canals off the Indus River to irrigate the Cholistan desert. Sindh, as the lower riparian province, saw this as an existential threat. For weeks, the protests, sit-ins and road blockades going on in Sindh have been highlighting the intensity of public sentiment and the political cost of unilateral decision-making. The resulting suspension of inter-provincial transport severely disrupted the supply of essentials like petrol and food, leaving trucks stranded and economies in distress.

What should have been a straightforward matter of consultation spiralled into a political crisis, with the PPP threatening to exit the coalition government. President Asif Ali Zardari’s sharp rebuke of the project in his address to parliament back in March should have signalled how seriously Sindh viewed the matter. Yet, the centre let the issue fester, a costly misstep that could have seriously impacted an already fragile political arrangement. It wasn’t until the joint press conference between Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari that the government finally committed to course correction. By then, though, the damage was already visible: politically, economically and socially. But let’s also reiterate that this is not just about politics. Water in Pakistan is a sensitive, even volatile, issue – something that has been driven home even more recently. We have rightly condemned India’s threats to suspend the Indus Waters Treaty as hostile and provocative. And within our own borders, the allocation of water is no less delicate. For provinces like Sindh, the equitable distribution of Indus waters is a lifeline, not a luxury. Any attempt to divert water, especially without consultation, not only undermines trust but can unravel the very fabric of national unity.

Environmental sustainability is another critical dimension. Pakistan is one of the most water-stressed countries in the world. Large-scale canal projects, if not grounded in hydrological reality and ecological balance, risk exacerbating already severe water shortages downstream, disrupting river ecosystems and accelerating desertification. The rush to ‘green’ deserts cannot come at the cost of depriving fertile lands of their due share of water. Infrastructure must serve the long-term interests of all, not just the immediate goals of one region or political interest. The federal government must take this episode as a wake-up call. Infrastructure planning – especially on water – cannot be divorced from inter-provincial cooperation, environmental assessments or economic consequences. Pakistan’s political and ecological stability depends on building policies that are inclusive, scientifically sound and democratically endorsed. Consensus has to be seen as a necessity, not just a procedural nicety.