In considerable development, the federal government has agreed to initiate dialogue with the Sindh government to tackle concerns about the controversial channel projects.
The breakthrough came during a telephone call between adviser to Prime Minister Rana Sanaullah and Sindh’s senior minister Sharjeel Inam Memon. Both leaders expressed commitment to resolving the dispute through peaceful negotiation.
Rana Sanaullah declared that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and PML-N leader Nawaz Sharif had instructed the center to tackle Sindh’s reservations.
“The federal government supports fair resource distribution among all provinces,” he said, repeating that no province’s water can be redirected illegally.
Sanaullah emphasized that the question should not be politicized and added that the 1991 agreement and the IRSA Act protect the provincial rights.
“Dialogue and consultation are the solution to any problem,” he said.
SHARJEEL MEMON said that PPP and the people of Sindh have serious concerns about the proposed channels. He confirmed Sindh’s position on the Water Distribution Agreement of 1991 and welcomed the federal dialogue effort.
The dispute is centered on a federal plan to construct six channels that discharge water from the Indus River to irritate the Cholistan Desert. The RS211.4 billion project aims to grow 400,000 hectares of barren land, but has given rise to strong resistance in Sindh.
Earlier, PPP chairman Bilawal Bhutto warned Zardari that the party could leave the ruling coalition if its concerns were not treated.
Bilawal fired a warning shot against the ruling allied arches and required immediate scrapping of the controversial channel project, or PPP will give up the government, leaving it stranded and shielding all ties.
“PPP requires the federal government to immediately stop the controversial channel project and accept our objections, otherwise PPP will not join you,” he warned at his party’s public meeting in Hyderabad on Friday night.
Meanwhile, Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah said on Saturday that the controversial channel project would die down before the federal budget 2025-26.
