HYDERABAD: The Hyderabad chapter of the High Court Bar Association (HCBA) has, besides nationalist and political parties, also opposed construction of any dam over Indus river and said that instead of adopting procedure for water reservoirs as described in Constitution the Chief Justice of Pakistan and the federal government are trying to usurp Sindh’s internationally recognised right by launching campaign for big dams.

The HCBA members at a meeting held here on Monday said that the exercise would be futile without addressing the oldest Sindh-Punjab dispute over water which had been lingering on since 1859. Besides, legislatures of three provinces had already passed resolutions against the dams, it said.

The meeting noted that Sindh was a lower riparian and 50 per cent co-sharer beneficiary of the Indus river system but Punjab had been taking its water illegally and unconstitutionally since 1859. On the complaints of Sindh, British rulers had constituted “India Irrigation Commission” in 1901, “The Cotton Committee” in 1919, “The Anderson Committee” in 1935 and “Rao Commission” in 1941, it said.

The meeting said that four commissions and a technical committee were appointed after the inception of Pakistan, which were; Akhtar Hussain Committee in 1968, Fazal Akbar Commission in 1970, Anwarul Haq Commission in 1981, Haleem Commission in 1983 and Technical Committee on Water Resources headed by A.N.G Abbasi in Gen Musharraf regime.

In the light of reports and decisions of the committee and commissions, the meeting observed, that the construction of canals, dams etc by Punjab with help of British government and federal government after the establishment of Pakistan without consent of Sindh were illegal and unconstitutional and relevant laws restrained Punjab from building any dam or canal without Sindh’s consent.

The HCBA members condemned what they saw as violation of Articles 153, 154 and 155 of the Constitution by CJP and federal government and demanded that justice be administered to Sindh.

The meeting rejected the narrative that downstream river flows was a waste of water was a lie because Sindh was losing thousands of acres to sea in the absence of adequate water flows downstream Kotri barrage.

The meeting said that reports of the committees and commissions confirmed that Sindh had been a weaker party which had been facing theft of its water since a century and a half. On Sept 28, 1945, Sindh and Punjab were directed to come to an agreement and a draft accord was signed by chief engineers of the provinces whose article No8 said that Punjab could not construct any dam on the Indus or its tributary in future without Sindh’s consent.

The meeting said the sea was devouring land in coastal belt, rendering fertile soil barren, destroying agriculture, fruits, vegetables, flora and fauna of delta and wiping out mangroves forests. The continuous freshwater flows could push back the sea and keep the delta alive, it said.

CJP criticised for pro-Kalabagh dam stance

Awami Tehreek president Dr Rasool Bux Khaskheli announced on Monday that his party would stage hunger strike outside Karachi Press Club from Sept 28 to 30 to record protest against CJP’s plans for construction of Kalabagh dam or any other dam over Indus.

He said at a press conference that the CJP should first quit his high post and then lead pro-Kalabagh dam campaign. The construction of any water project over Indus would deprive Sindh of its share in water over which it had first right as lower riparian and as per international water laws, he said.

He said that Punjab had been usurping Sindh’s water share by digging up canals illegally since the inception of Pakistan and the province was not ready to implement water apportionment accord of 1991 which it had thrust on others. Punjab had always backtracked on agreements, he said.

Mr Khaskheli condemned the prime minister’s announcement that national identity cards would be issued to immigrants including Bengalis, Burmese, Afghans and others. It would convert Sindhis into a minority and displace them from their motherland, he said.

He vowed to defend Sindhis’ right to existence through peaceful struggle and said the prime minister should have paid heed to observations made by the apex court during Karachi lawlessness case according to which four million illegal immigrants were living in Karachi and many of them were involved in terrorist activities.

He said that sea intrusion had devoured millions of acres of land in coastal belt because of failure to release 25MAF water downstream Kotri barrage, destroyed mangroves cover and caused a sharp decline in fish catch in Indus delta since 1951 onwards. As per Ramsar convention, the government was responsible for protecting the delta, he said. He said that Punjab took more water than its allocated share every year in violation of 1991 accord. Retired Gen Musharraf had also announced building Kalabagh dam but he had to halt his plans soon after strong protests by people of Sindh and form a technical committee led by A.N.G. Abbasi which had finally rejected the dam with the observation that sufficient flows were not available in the system to build any dam.

He criticised the prime minister’s statement that 80 per cent of water going into sea was wastage. Despite the fact that three assemblies had rejected the dam project the CJP was describing it as future of Pakistan, he said.

He said that things had now become pretty much clear. It could be seen that the ruling elite of Punjab was bent upon building Kalabagh dam and its campaign was being effectively run under the leadership of CJP and prime minister. The CJP was no more impartial, he therefore should quit his high post and then lead pro-Kalabagh dam campaign, he said.

JSM-R to stage sit-in against Kalabagh dam

The Jeay Sindh Mahaz-Riaz would stage a sit-in in Daharki on Oct 7 in protest against plans for the construction of Kalabagh dam.

A meeting of the party’s central body chaired by Riaz Ali Chandio reviewed arrangements for the sit-in and said that on the one hand controversial projects like Kalabagh dam were being resurrected to usurp water of Sindh and on the other the prime minister had started working on plans to convert Sindhis into a minority.

The meeting urged Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf leaders from Sindh to mount pressure on the party leadership and persuade it to shelve the controversial dam project once and for all, provide due share of water to Sindh and expel illegal immigrants to prove their loyalty with Sindh.

Published in Dawn, September 18th, 2018