HYDERABAD: Pakistan Peoples Party has rejected inclusion of Phase-II of Greater Thal Canal (GTC) and Chaubara Canal projects in the agenda of Executive Committee of National Economic Council (Ecnec) and termed the step illegal and unconstitutional while urging the Asian Development Bank to refrain from funding the controversial projects.

PPP Sindh president Nisar Ahmed Khuhro, who has represented Sindh on Ecnec since 2013 and has reportedly been denotified recently, said in a statement issued on Monday that the Ecnec should not allocate any funds for the projects.

Constitutionally speaking, he said, the federal caretaker government could not include this issue in Ecnec’s agenda as Ecnec and caretaker regime lacked mandate to take such an important decision.

He said that Council of Common Interests (CCI) could take such a decision but its meeting had not yet been called and the CCI had not approved such projects. Therefore, Ecenc did not have authority to take any decision in this regard, he said.

He wondered from where water flows were going to come for the projects of Phase-II of Greater Thal Canal and Chaubara Canal. “These projects are not part of the 1991 Water Apportionment Accord,” he said.

He said that Punjab claimed it would divert water for the projects out of its own share in the absence of telemetry system which had not been installed yet to check water theft and monitor river flows right from Chashma and Tuansa barrage to Guddu barrage.

Khuhro questioned how withdrawal of water by Punjab would be determined then. Already, Sindh was not being provided water as per its share under the accord and water was being stolen between Guddu and Taunsa barrages through pumping machines, he said.

He termed the two projects an attempt to regularise Chashma-Jehlum link canal. “Sindh rightly fears that these projects will render it barren while Punjab will bring more acreage under cultivation,” he said.

He said that Sindh would not accept these projects at any cost. The CCI should also reject the projects once and for all to end unrest among people of Sindh, he said, adding that making the projects part of Ecnec’s agenda despite Sindh’s reservations was an attempt to heighten a sense of deprivation in the province.

“Sindh questions water distribution [by Irsa] under three-tier formula,” he remarked and said that Irsa had failed to distribute water in line with para-II of 1991 accord.

Khuhro removed as Ecnec member

Khuhro confirmed to Dawn on Monday that it had been communicated to him that he was no longer Ecnec member and had been replaced by Yunus Dagha, caretaker Sindh revenue minister.

“I have been representing Sindh since 2013 but now the revenue minister will appear as Sindh member in Ecnec,” he said.

He said that that he did not know whether the caretaker government could take such a decision because he had not yet received any notification. He had been removed unconstitutionally as caretakers could not be part of Ecnec legally, he argued.

AT, AWP oppose the projects

Leaders of Awami Tehreek and Awami Workers Party also opposed the two projects in their meeting and termed it an attempt to turn Sindh ‘barren’ through Chaubara Canal and Phase-II of GTC.

They made it clear that people of Sindh would not accept any dam or canal on Indus River.

The meeting said that Awami Tehreek would hold a conference on Dec 14 in Hyderabad against auction of Sindh’s land and discussed strategy to launch countrywide movement against auction of farmland in the name of ‘agriculture revolution’.

In November 2021, the Sindh government had raised objections to construction of GTC Phase-II on ground that “on the one hand Punjab did not respect para-2 on ten-daily basis water allocations of 1991 accord and insisted on ‘annual average system uses 1977-82’ for water distribution but on the other it sought to build GTC Phase-II which

was supposed to receive allocations under para-2”.

The GTC takes off from CJ link canal. It is 35km long with 342km long five branch canal systems and a total discharge of 8,500 cusecs for 1.739m acres command area. It has water allocation of 2.497MAF. The GTC’s construction had led to province-wide agitation in Musharraf era in Sindh.

Wapda had started working on it in 2001 against 5,900 cusecs maximum allocation under the accord. Requirement of GTC is 2.497 MAF (1.873MAF under para-2 and 0.624MAF from flood supplies under para-4) to irrigate four districts of Khushab, Bhakkar, Layyah and Jhang districts in Punjab.

Punjab government has prepared two project costs (PC-I) for GTC’s Phase-II including construction of Chaubara branch canal, its distribution system and branch canals of Mankera and Chaubara branch.

Published in Dawn, December 12th, 2023