Any change in Irsa Act should protect rights of Sindh as lower riparian province: SHC

The Sindh High Court on Thursday directed the government to tell it if any legislative amendment has been made to the Indus River System Authority (Irsa) Act, keeping in mind the lower riparian rights of the Sindh province.

Hearing a petition with regard to the appointment of the federal member of Isra from Sindh, a division bench, headed by Justice Mohammad Faisal Kamal Alam, observed that despite the court order the federal member of Irsa from Sindh has not been notified.

The court once again directed the federal government to appoint the federal member from Sindh to Irsa without any further delay and submit a compliance report within three weeks.

The petitioner’s counsel Zamir Ghumro informed the court that one of his prayers stands allowed in view of the decision of the Council of Common Interests, which has returned the water availability certificate for the construction of canals issued by Irsa on January 24, 2024, during the caretaker set-up. However, Irsa’s federal member has not been appointed from Sindh as yet.

To a court query, the federal and provincial law officers submitted that there was some initial discussion with regard to legislative amendments to the Irsa Act as per the court order. The court in its previous order had observed that in order to resolve the issue in a holistic manner, the necessary legislative amendment may be done so that controversies of such magnitude undermining the national unity were prevented in future.

The court observed that it is expected that official respondents would comprehend the gravity of the situation and take appropriate steps immediately. It further said it had already suspended the water availability certificate issued by Irsa for new canals and subsequently the Council of Common Interests had also done the same and no water scheme would be initiated without consensus among the provinces.

The court observed that the decision-making in Irsa is important and not having the federal member from Sindh affects the rights of lower riparian province, and its rights must be protected. It said the CCI has also given a decision based on consensus and national cohesion and in the same spirit the federal government should move forward.

The high court directed the federal and provincial law officers to apprise it of any legislative amendment which may include water allocation ensuring water security, considering lower riparian rights of the Sindh province. It said national cohesion should be the principle objective in making decisions with regard to water supplies.

The federal law officer had earlier filed the CCI decision which states that the water availability certificate of January 17 2024 (which was also suspended by the court) has been returned. The court was informed that it was also decided in the CCI that no new canals will be built without mutual understanding from the CCI. The Sindh advocate general filed comments and proposed the name of retired chief engineer Shafquat Hussain Wadho to be appointed as member Irsa from Sindh for a period of three years.