KARACHI: Sindh Health Minister Dr Azra Fazal Pechuho on Friday told the provincial assembly that the only practical solution to control stray dog bites was to cull the animals.

She was replying to a point of order raised by Khurram Sher Zaman of the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf on the surge in dog-bite cases across the province.

She said that expanding population of stray dogs could not be controlled through vaccination or sterilisation.

The health minister said that it could take 10 years to control the population of stray dogs through vaccination and neutering in the province.

She said that deputy commissioners should be asked to arrange culling of stray dogs in their respective districts.

The health minister was of the opinion that stray dogs would still bite even after being vaccinated and sterilised.

Says population of stray dogs can’t be controlled through vaccination; Murad accuses Punjab of ‘stealing’ Sindh’s water

As for the recent death of children in parts of the province due to dog bites, she said that the dog bites on face and forehead caused major risk of death as the load of virus rapidly penetrated into the brain.

‘Punjab stealing Sindh’s water’

Giving a policy statement, Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah said that Sindh had always faced shortage of water as Punjab got more water than its share under the Water Accord of 1991.

He said that a fair distribution of water had always been an issue in the region between upper and lower riparian.

Recalling the history of water issue in the region, he said that the British had initially started work on controlling the rivers in the subcontinent in 1859 when they made canals on Ravi and Chenab rivers. “This practice continued till 1920 and since then water share of Sindh has been slashed,” he said.

The CM also referred to an agreement between Sindh and Punjab in 1945 under the Rao Commission that fixed 48.88 million acre-feet (MAF) for Punjab.

He said that Chashma-Jhelum Link Canal was completed in 1970 for managing surplus and flood water and in 1972 water was released to make it wet. Later, the release of water to the CJ canal was stopped after Sindh informed the centre that there was a water shortage downstream.

However, he said then Punjab governor Ghulam Jillani got the CJ canal opened forcibly. “They are stealing our water. What word other than stealing can be used in the scenario,” he added.

The CM recalled that Water Accord between the two provinces was signed in 1991 despite strong reservations of the Pakistan Peoples Party as the water share of Punjab was enhanced “illegally and irregularly”.

He said that water was being released to the CJ canal illegally in violation of the Water Accord and he took up the issue in the Council of Common Interests in 2013 with a request of resolve the issue once and for all.

Mr Shah said that Sindh had gotten 26.67 MAF lesser water than its due share since 1999.

He said that there was 37 per cent shortage of water in Sindh and 17pc in Punjab during last 20 days. “As of today, we (Sindh) have 37 per cent shortage while Punjab has only six per cent,” he added.

Murad regrets PTI’s opposition

At the outset of his speech, the CM expressed his dismay over the PTI for opposing a resolution asking the Indus River System Authority (Irsa) to release Sindh its due water share.

“You should be loyal to the people of Sindh who have elected you as it is not a political issue but a matter of survival for the province’s people,” the CM told the PTI members.

He regretted that it was for the first time in the history of the Sindh Assembly that a division between members from the two sides of the aisle was witnessed on the water crisis in the province. “The house has always emerged unanimous on water issue since the establishment of the Sindh Assembly,” he added.

Opposition parties Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan, Grand Democratic Alliance and Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal assured their “full cooperation” to the provincial government for getting the rights of Sindh.

PTI parliamentary party Leader Bilal Ghaffar said that the issue should be resolved through negotiations. He said that from the very first day, they (PTI MPAs in Sindh Assembly) had offered to act as a bridge between PPP-led provincial and PTI-led federal governments.

Prolonged loadshedding condemned

On a point of order MMA’s Syed Abdul Rasheed said that K-Electric was carrying out loadshedding for more than 12 hours in almost every part of Karachi.

He said that the power disruption had made lives of people miserable. He asked the chief minister to look into the matter directly.

Speaker Agha Siraj Durrani said that there was power disruption of up to 14 hours in his constituency. “As such all the rural parts of Sindh face such a situation,” he deplored.

Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Mukesh Kumar Chawla said that there was an electricity crisis from Karachi to Kashmore.

He said that the CM would be requested to take up the matter with the authorities concerned.

Meanwhile, the house unanimously passed The Sindh Protection of Journalists and other Media Practitioners Bill 2021 with a slight amendment moved by Khawaja Izharul Hassan of the MQM-P for provision of legal assistance to journalists and media practitioners at government expense.

The Abdul Majid Bhurgari Institute of Language Engineering Bill, 2019 and The Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto Institute of Science and Technology (Amendment) Bill, 2021 were also passed unanimously by the house.

Later, the speaker adjourned the house to Monday.

Published in Dawn, May 29th, 2021