LAHORE: Punjab Irrigation Minister Kazim Pirzada has expressed his support for the construction of the controversial Kalabagh Dam, while commenting on the ongoing debate over the building of six new canals from the Indus River.
In 2012, the Sindh Assembly passed four resolutions against the Kalabagh Dam project. The proposal has also been opposed by the provincial assemblies of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan.
Back in September 2018, then-Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi stated in the National Assembly that three provinces — Sindh, KP, and Balochistan — were not in favor of the dam, and that the federal government respected their stance.
Despite this, Pirzada said in a television interview: “Yes, the Kalabagh Dam should be built, 100 per cent it should be built.”
Addressing Sindh’s concerns about water blockage, he stated, “We are only saying that when there is a flood situation and water is in abundance, it should be stored.”
When the host pointed out that all three provinces aside from Punjab had passed resolutions against the dam, Pirzada responded, “We are doing politics on this issue but not making a logical argument.
“If a reservoir is made and Punjab is the upper riparian, then Sindh and Balochistan being the lower riparian provinces will be the next beneficiaries, and it’s beneficial for the whole country.”
Pirzada also addressed the current disagreement regarding the construction of six new canals, saying that President Asif Ali Zardari had already approved the project.
“As President and PPP leader, he (President Zardari) has given the go ahead [for the project] and it has been discussed with him. The media has reported on it as well,” he claimed.
On Thursday, ministers from Punjab and Sindh exchanged heated words over the canal project, a day after PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari rejected it during a rally in Garhi Khuda Bakhsh, calling it “unilateral.”
The Cholistan canals initiative is part of the Green Pakistan Initiative. It aims to irrigate 4.8 million acres (1.9 million hectares) of barren land by building six canals — two each in Punjab, Sindh, and Balochistan. Of the six, five will draw water from the Indus River, while the sixth will be built on the Sutlej River. The project is designed to supply about 4,120 cusecs of water to the Cholistan desert in Punjab.
On February 15, Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz and Army Chief General Asim Munir officially launched the Cholistan project to provide irrigation to lands in south Punjab. This happened amid widespread criticism and objections raised in Sindh.
In March, the Sindh Assembly unanimously passed a resolution against the construction of six new canals on the Indus River. The resolution called for an immediate stop to any work or planning related to the project until all provincial governments — especially Sindh — were involved in a formal agreement ensuring their rights were safeguarded.
Sindh minister condemns Kalabagh Dam statement
Responding to Pirzada’s comments, Sindh Irrigation Minister Jam Khan Shoro said that advocating for the Kalabagh Dam was an “insult to the provincial assemblies and the people of the provinces.”
In a statement, Shoro said that the dam project had already been “technically rejected by all provincial assemblies and water experts.”
He questioned the source of water for the dam, asking, “When the country’s existing dams are lying empty, where will the water come from to fill the Kalabagh Dam?”
Shoro further blamed the Indus River System Authority (Irsa) for its “incompetence,” claiming it had failed to ensure water supply downstream of Kotri, which he said had ruined the delta and caused Sindh’s lands to become barren.
Calling Pirzada’s remarks ignorant, Shoro said: “Sindh’s water issue is not political but technical. By politicising it, Punjab’s ministers are insulting the people of Sindh.”
