- PM’s Advisor speaks to Memon over phone and agrees to resolving issues of water and canals
ISLAMABAD: Adviser to Prime Minister Rana Sanaullah on Monday assured it’s coalition partner PPP of addressing its reservations over the controversial Cholistan Canal project.
Advisor to PM Rana Sanaullah made the assurance during a second telephonic call to Sindh Senior Minister Sharjeel Memon, according to a statement from the ruling party.
Earlier on Sunday in a telephonic talk, both the PM’s advisor and Sindh Senior Minister Sharjeel Memon had agreed to resolve the contentious canals project issue through dialogue during a telephone call between them.
According to the PML-N’s statement on Monday, Sanaullah spoke with Memon over the phone, where an agreement was reached on resolving the issues of water and the canals.
“We believe in resolving all matters amicably,” Sanaullah was quoted as saying. “According to the Water Accord, the water of any province cannot be transferred to any other province and [this] is not being done.
“Water distribution is an administrative and technical issue, which will also be resolved on administrative and technical grounds,” the adviser added.
Sanaullah was quoted as saying that it was not possible to violate the rights of any provinces and expressed hope that the consultation process on the canal project would expand.
“Any reservations the provinces have will be addressed and removed,” he added.
Both the PM’s adviser and the provincial minister appeared in an interview on a TV channel’ later in the day and expanded on their perspectives on the canal issue.
“We hope that the PM will take this situation seriously, and we request that the PM immediately announce that the government is shelving the project so that people’s concerns are relieved,” Sharjeel said, adding that the canals have yet to be built.
“We have expressed our concerns in writing for quite some time,” the minister added.
However, Sanaullah said that the initiative could not even be considered a project without a meeting of the Council of Common Interests (CCI).
“Once there is approval, there will be a turning process and then it will be on the ground,” the PM’s adviser clarified.
He added that of the water in the system, 53 per cent belonged to Punjab to irrigate 28 million acres of land.
“Section 8 of the 1991 Water Accord says that all provinces can use their share of water as they please,” Sanaullah stated. “The issue is that Sindh is alleging that this [canal project] is a scheme to steal their water.
“If we abandon the project, it will reinforce those allegations,” he explained. “If allegations are levelled, then there needs to be the right to challenge them.”
The PM’s adviser said that he was open to discussions with the PPP and had conveyed this to the premier. “He (the prime minister) will examine the proposal upon his return from Turkiye,” Sanaullah said.
Speaking about the CCI meeting, Sharjeel asserted that the Sindh government had written multiple letters requesting the meeting. “We are ready to speak, but there needs to be a CCI meeting, which has not been called yet,” he explained.
The minister acknowledged that Punjab had “not found a new source of water” and asked where water destined for Cholistan was coming from.
“Where are you taking water from to send it to Cholistan? What water from Punjab are you taking?” he asked. “The water comes from the Indus River.”
Sanaullah responded by arguing that canal irrigation would “save 35pc more water” than flood irrigation.
“Around 30pc of water in canals is lost through seepage,” he added. “We need to invest in lining canals better to stop seepage, there are also other options with which we can save upwards of 50pc more water.”
Sanaullah continued: “This project is still in the consultation stage. The meeting cited by [President] Asif Ali Zardari was a consultation. As soon as the news got out, protests started.”
On April 18, PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari threatened the ruling PML-N against continuing down the path of confrontation with Sindh over the issue of new canals on the Indus River.
While addressing a large public gathering at the Hatri Bypass Ground last week, he said his party would not go along with the federal government if it did not shelve the controversial project, even after acknowledging the PPP’s objections.
