KARACHI: The Sindh High Court Bar Association (SHCBA) has demanded that all sachems of canals on the Indus River be withdrawn immediately in the interest of federation.

It also condemned the issuance of a water availability certificate by the Indus River System Authority (Irsa) for construction of canals in Cholistan despite opposition of Sindh and demanded its immediate withdrawal.

The SBCA has unanimously adopted a resolution during a meeting of its managing committee on Wednesday and stated that water share of Sindh and its decision-making right may be restored to its original position as provided in the Sindh-Punjab Water Agreement 1945 and all sachems of canals be done away with in the interest of federation.

The resolution also said that the “water one-unit regime, imposed on Sindh in 1991-92, has not only drastically cut water share of the province from 60 to 40 per cent but also subjected the water decision making to voting instead of consensus between Sindh and Punjab which has led to present unfortunate situation of construction of Cholistan and Thal canal phase-II”.

The Water Accord 1991 and Irsa Act 1992 needed to be amended in order to subject all upstream water schemes to the consent and approval of lower riparian province of Sindh as provided in the 1945 agreement, it maintained.

The resolution also stated that the federal government had a role of the referee between Sindh and Punjab, but “by subjecting water decision making to voting in violation of the 1945 agreement, Sindh has been treated unfairly and unequally”.

The SHCBA further said that the composition of the Council of Common Interests under Article 153 of the Constitution was based on equal representation of the provinces, but Punjab has four members out of eight instead of two members from each province.

Published in Dawn, March 6th, 2025