Islamabad:
In a movement to turn off the flames of the controversy over the channel projects, the vice -minister Ishaq Dar assured the legislators on Monday that not even a drop of water from Sindh would deviate to any other province, and added that every dispute scheme would be reviewed with the party of the peoples of Pakistan (PPP) on board.
Dar was responding to the growing restlessness of the PPP on the projects of the Channel in the Indo River, since the party demanded an immediate arrest to work in channels in dispute and requested a meeting of the Common Interests Council (CCI).
By chairing the National Assembly session, President Ayaz Sadiq supervised the heated debate when PPP legislators pressed the government who more clarity on the matter.
Offering tranquility in his policy statement, he said that the question of the channels had emerged for the first time in the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC), and any additional action was deferred after the objections of PPP.
He said he had not allowed issues related to the channel to be included in the agenda of subsequent meetings.
“Sometimes misunderstandings arise, and they must be clear. We are all brothers,” said Dar. “I have close ties with the PPP and I assure you that you will not even take a single drop of Sindh water for punjab.”
He clarified that Punjab was free to undertake development projects using its own water, but no other province could violate the Sindh quota.
Without appointing, he referred to a controversial statement by a Punjab minister, qualifying it “inappropriate.”
“Since the creation of IRSA to its current operation, the national interest has always been our guiding principle. The prime minister has ordered that the legitimate concerns of Sindh must be addressed,” Dar added.
He added that the channel problem would be reviewed technically and together with the PPP.
The information minister, Ataullah Tarar, also intervened, saying: “We should not drag the house.”
“The 1991 water agreement established the water distribution procedure. We are always ready for consensus,” Tarar added.
Previously, at a point of order, Raja Pervaiz Ashraf shared his recent experience visiting Sindh on the occasion of the death of former Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. “I witnessed the emotional public reaction against channel extraction projects. With the provinces that already face water shortage, where will the water come for the new channels?” asked.
He said that President Asif Ali Zardari had expressed his opposition to such projects during his speech in the Chamber.
Shabbir Bajrani said that two Channels from the Indo had already been extracted, and the province faced a significant water deficit. “A Sindh received 15% of his participation, and that has now been reduced by 40%.”
He urged the prime minister to make a policy statement in the Chamber and announce that new channels will not be developed.
