Punjab Irrigation Minister Kazim Pirzada has called for the construction of the Kalabagh Dam amidst ongoing controversy over the construction of six canals on the Indus River.
Speaking on a private news channel, Pirzada said, “The Kalabagh Dam should be built 100 per cent it should be built. Regarding Sindh’s concerns about water shortages, we are only saying that when there is an excess of water during floods, it should be stored.”
When asked about the resolutions passed by all three provincial assemblies except Punjab, he replied, “We are engaging in politics on this issue without providing a logical argument. If a reservoir is created, and Punjab, as the upper riparian, benefits, Sindh and Balochistan, as the lower riparian provinces, will also benefit. This is beneficial for the entire country.”
Pirzada also supported Punjab Information Minister Azma Bokhari’s claims that President Asif Ali Zardari had approved the construction of the six new canals.
The canal project has become a bone of contention between the PML-N led government and its key ally, the PPP.
The PPP has been vehemently opposing the project which was recently inaugurated by COAS General Asim Munir and Punjab CM Maryam Nawaz. The PPP leadership has not only voiced objections but also engaged in a war of words with the ruling party in centre and Punjab.
Just a day after PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari denounced the scheme as “unilateral” during a speech marking the death anniversary of his grandfather Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, a new dispute broke out between Punjab and Sindh information ministers.
Speaking to the media in Lahore, Punjab Information Minister Azma Bukhari hit back at Bilawal, saying his rally rhetoric offered no real solution.
“If he can take time to meet with the federal government over provincial budgets,” she quipped, “he should also address the canal issue.”
Bukhari pointed out that the project had already received presidential consent.
“It is documented, it is signed,” she stressed, making it clear that the project had official backing.
Accusing the PPP of playing politics with water, she called the move “unfortunate” and questioned Bilawal’s choice of stage.
“Bilawal Bhutto shouldn’t be speaking about water solutions while standing at rallies,” she said. “Before making accusations, check the facts. This is canal politics,” she asserted.
In response to Bokhari’s remarks, Sindh Senior Minister for Information Sharjeel Inam Memon questioned her understanding of the president’s constitutional powers.
“Have you [Bokhari] read the Constitution? Do you know how to read the Constitution?” Memon said during a media talk in Karachi.
He further questioned where it was stated in the Constitution that the president had the authority to approve such development projects.
“If the federal government has sent it to the president for approval, then that was an incompetent move,” he added.
“It is not his mandate, we are tired of telling you this a 100 times,” Memon said, stressing that the federal government had not followed the correct procedural route.
“If you have the documents of approval, then you should be able to bring the fabricated minutes of the meeting,” he added.
The Green Pakistan Initiative, with an estimated cost of $3.3 billion, aims to construct six canals to irrigate 1.2 million acres of arid land in southern Punjab. However, the project has met growing resistance – first from Sindhi nationalist groups and now from the PPP itself.
Five of the canals are planned on the Indus River, while the sixth will be built along the Sutlej River, intended to supply around 4,120 cusecs of water to the Cholistan desert in Punjab.
