- PPP will celebrate demonstrations against the project on March 25.
- Khuhro says that the project an attack against the Water Rights of Sindh.
- “Cholistan project more dangerous than the Kalabagh dam.”
The Popular Party of Pakistan (PPP), a key ally of the ruling Muslim League of Pakistan-Nawaz (PML-N), has announced a protest movement against the six-channel project proposed by the federal government, which qualifies the “illegal” initiative.
When heading to a press conference in Karachi on Friday, the president of PPP Sindh, Nisar Khuhro, said the party would celebrate protest demonstrations throughout the headquarters of the District on March 25 (Tuesday) against the controversial project.
“The project is illegal and should not be built … we will celebrate demonstrations and protest on each street,” he said.
The federal government plans to build six channels in the Indo River to water the Cholistan desert, a project that was rejected by its main PPP ally and other Nationalist parties of Sindh.
According to government sources, the estimated cost of the channel and the Cholistan system is RS211.4 billion and, through the project, thousands of arid land acres can be used for agricultural purposes and 400,000 acres of land can be cultivated, the news reported.
Almost all political and religious parties, nationalist groups and civil society organizations organized generalized demonstrations throughout Sindh against the controversial plan.
The party led by Bilawal Bhutto has again and again reservations on the project, with President Asif Ali Zardari warning the Government that some of its unilateral policies are causing “serious tension” in the Federation.
He denounced the unilateral decision of the government to forge more channels of the Indo River system despite the strong opposition of the federal units.
“A proposal that, as president, I cannot support,” said Zardari and urged the “Government to abandon this current proposal and work together with all interested parties to find viable and sustainable solutions based on a unanimous consensus between the Federal Units.”
Going to the presster today, Khuhro said that the federal government has revived the memories of dictatorship when initiating the construction of the Cholistan channel without the approval of any constitutional forum.
In the past, he said, former President Pervez Musharraf built the Grand Canal de Thal through an executive order, and now the PML-N government is adopting a similar approach.
“The Punjab government also committed an unconstitutional act by assigning funds in the budget for controversial channels,” he added.
He pointed out that the project was a “attack against the water rights of Sindh”, and PPP will fight them through constitutional and democratic means.
A resolution against these projects has been approved in the Sindh Assembly, and the PPP will communicate with political parties, nationalist organizations, lawyers and civil society to form a joint resistance front, he added.
Khuhro warned that the Cholistan channel project is even more dangerous for Sindh than the controversial prey of Kalabagh, since it could make the sterile province sterile.
He said that, like the PML-N government, he had to retire from the Kalabagh dam in the past, he would also have to leave these channel projects.
Khuhro added that President Zardari has declared these projects as a unilateral decision of the federal government, demonstrating that the president is not involved.
The PPP leader urged the people of Sndh and all segments of society to join in the fight against these projects to guarantee the protection of the Indo river water.
