PPP announces protests over water shortages in Sindh

KARACHI/ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) announced on Monday it would stage protests across Sindh from June 3 over water scarcity in the province.

PPP Sindh President Nisar Khuhro, addressing a news conference at the province’s assembly, said Sindh had been hit by water scarcity after unannounced load-shedding and skyrocketing inflation. “For this, the whole province will protest,” the PPP leader said.

The PPP would not remain silent and allow the Indus River System Authority (IRSA) to steal Sindh’s water, Khuhro said. The PPP leader said due to a shortage of water in Thatta, the people were not able to grow crops.

Protests would be held on the water issue across Sindh, starting with Larkana on June 3, Thatta and Badin on June 5, Sukkur on June 9, and Karachi on June 15.The PPP leader alleged only Sindh’s water had been reduced, while all the other provinces were getting their due share.

Meanwhile, Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting Farrukh Habib said on Monday telemetry system would soon be installed on dams and canals to ensure transparency in water distribution amongst the provinces.

Addressing a news conference along with Punjab Irrigation Minister and Opposition Leader in Sindh Assembly Haleem Adil Sheikh in Islamabad, he said Prime Minister Imran Khan had given clear directions in that regard in order to properly monitor water flow, Radio Pakistan reported.

Habib regretted the PPP was playing politics on the issue of water to create disparity amongst the provinces. He however said the opposition party could not hoodwink the masses. He said the federal government was ready to take along all the provinces on the water issue.

The minister lamented no attention was paid to the construction of dams in the past. “Our water storage capacity decreased from 15.74 million acres to thirteen million acres feet.” Habib said the present government had started construction work on ten dams which would significantly increase water capacity.

Punjab Irrigation Minister Mohsin Leghari said Punjab was facing water shortage of twenty two per cent and Sindh seventeen per cent. He said: “We have proposed deployment of independent observers to clear misunderstandings amongst the provinces over the water issue.”

In his remarks, Opposition Leader in the Sindh Assembly Haleem Adil Sheikh said both Punjab and Sindh provinces were facing water shortage due to less rains this year. He however was confident that the water situation would improve in the coming weeks.