Thatta's road link to Karachi, other towns cut off

Express Tribune

24-04-2025

Protest demonstrations erupted in Thatta on Wednesday as nationalist groups and local residents took to the streets against the construction of new canals off the Indus River.
In solidarity with the ongoing sit-in at Baberlo Bypass, demonstrators staged a major protest at the Makli Bypass, blocking the national highway connecting Thatta to Karachi, Sujawal, Badin, Umerkot, Mithi, and Tando Muhammad Khan, causing severe traffic disruptions.
The protest was led by Sindh United Party's district president Imran Khushk, Jeay Sindh Tehreek's Rawal Karnai, JSSF's Abdul Malik Khushk, QAT's Yasir Jakro, Jeay Sindh Mahaz's Amjad Shoro, and civil society representatives including Fawad Mashori and Haider Shah. The protesters chanted slogans like "Canal Project Rejected" and "No Theft of Indus Water." Leaders termed the canal projects a conspiracy to turn Sindh barren and claimed they pose a serious threat to the province's fertility, ecology, and millions of human and animal lives. They demanded the federal government immediately scrap the projects and warned the movement would continue until the plans were cancelled.
Sakrand
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Sindh Women Wing President Anisa Waliullah Siddiqui, announced full support for the resistance movement against the canal schemes. Speaking to media in Sakrand, she said the protest has grown into a mass movement representing millions of Sindhis.
She emphasized that under the guise of the Green Pakistan Initiative and corporate farming, massive water diversion projects are being pushed to benefit Punjab's arid lands at Sindh's expense. Siddiqui declared these developments a direct threat to Sindh's agriculture, environment, and livelihoods, adding that they amount to economic, ecological, and demographic aggression. She called the six-canal project an environmental catastrophe and accused it of further destroying the Indus River, already impacted by past projects like Ghazi Barotha. She called for joint resistance by oppressed communities across Pakistan.
Nawabshah
Workers from Jeay Sindh Qaumi Mahaz (JSQM) and other Sindhi nationalist parties staged a sit-in protest on the railway track between Nawabshah and Sakrand against the construction of canals on the Indus River. The railway traffic was suspended on the night between Tuesday and Wednesday.
The Pak Business Express train was stopped at Sarhari Railway Station due to the protest. The protesters, however, allowed the Karachi-bound Hazara Express bound to pass. However, later in the day the protestors left the railway tracks. Sakrand police station SHO Asghar Awan reached the scene with a heavy police contingent and held negotiations with the protesters.
Hyderabad
The Hyderabad Union of Journalists (HUJ) has announced a protest camp outside the Hyderabad Press Club today (Thursday) at 11am, opposing the canal projects. The event will see participation from political, religious, and nationalist parties, alongside traders, professionals, students, and civil society groups. HUJ President Hamid Shaikh confirmed all arrangements are in place. Separately, HUJ and PFUJ leaders expressed sorrow over the passing of senior journalist S.M. Shakeel and offered prayers and condolences to his family.