LARKANA: Awami Tehreek (AT) leaders, at press conference held in Shahdadkot on Tuesday, strongly condemned federal government’s plan to dig Cholistan and five other canal such waterways.

They described the project as a violation of international laws and Sindh’s constitutional rights. AT’s senior vice president Noor Ahmed Katiar, Sindhi Hari Tehreek president Comrade Ghulam Mustafa Chandio, and AT’s Qambar-Shahdadkot president Imdad Pathan, told journalists that the people of Sindh would continue to protest against the project. The reaffirmed AT’s resolve to resist the plan tooth and nail.

The noted with concern that the federal government was clandistinely pushing the Cholistan canal plan through the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (Ecnec) “by altering its meeting minutes”.

They said no institution, including Ecnec or the CDWP, could approve canals or dams through the Indus River without Sindh’s consent. The federal government, they deplored, was bent upon executing the six canals project unconstitutionally only to the benefit of corporate farming companies at the cost of public resources.

The AT leaders announced that a big rally would be held in Sukkur on Dec 22 to protest against all unacceptable federal moves including proposed amendments to the Indus River System Authority (Irsa) Act.

Published in Dawn, December 11th, 2024