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Express Tribune
21-04-2025
- Politics
- Express Tribune
Water talks
The ensuing rift within the ruling coalition over building of six water canals on River Indus has taken a pleasant turn, as PPP and PML-N, the two major partners at the Centre, have agreed to talk it out. The good point after months of discord is that a kind of thaw has arrived, as the PPP of Sindh and the PML-N stalwarts who are running the show at Punjab and the federal dispensation have hinted at resolving the controversy through consultation rather than confrontation. The issue has apparently borne out of an ambitious agriculture initiative to irrigate barren lands in Punjab's Cholistan for which water is to be procured allegedly at the expense of Sindh. It goes without saying that the mega project either lacked consensus or it was bulldozed without taking the lower riparian province into confidence. The sourness was evident as President Asif Ali Zardari in his annual address to the parliament termed it as an anti-federation initiative. Pakistan, being an agrarian state, cannot limit its mosaic of cultivation. At the same time increasing per yield production and mechanising the farming sectors are indispensable challenges. Green Pakistan Initiative of the Punjab government is a step in the right direction and should be replicated by other provinces by tapping new horizons of appropriate cultivation. Luckily, disbursement of water has a consensual and constitutionally-ordained mechanism between the federating units, and the pieces of legislation in the form of the 1991 Water Accord and the IRSA Act of 1992 are in need of being honoured. Any discord over new initiatives should not be politicised and rather dealt with amicably in the national interest. Sindh too on its part must indulge in introspection as the wider terrain of its cultivable land is barren, and the inflow of water can be better channelised for a greener tomorrow. It is also a given that no province should encroach on other's resources and equitable distribution of water should be ensured. One hopes Sindh and Punjab will look at the wider picture of development and make room for a give and take.
Express Tribune
20-04-2025
- Politics
- Express Tribune
Centre feels the heat as canals issue boils up
Listen to article As tensions rise over the controversial canal projects and the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) sharpens its stance, PML-N President Nawaz Sharif and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif have instructed party leaders to initiate dialogue with the coalition partner to address concerns. In a statement issued on Saturday, Adviser to the Prime Minister on Political and Public Affairs Rana Sanaullah said the party leadership has directed members to resolve the matter through consultation with the PPP. He stressed that the PML-N remains firmly committed to the fair and equitable distribution of water and other resources among all federating units. "PPP is part of the federal government. When holding constitutional offices, it is even more important to speak with a sense of responsibility," he stressed. Sanaullah said that his party holds deep respect for the leadership of PPP, and that no injustice is possible in the presence of the 1991 Water Accord and the IRSA Act of 1992, which govern inter-provincial water sharing. He clarified that no province's water can be diverted to another, as there are constitutional mechanisms and laws in place to ensure fairness in distribution. "The country has proper procedures to guarantee this," he said. The adviser cautioned against politicising the issue of water, urging that such matters should be resolved through discussions at the table rather than public confrontation. "We believe the strength of the federation lies in the strength of its constituent units, and we intend to continue this approach as we have in the past," he said. Sanaullah said that as a party with a firm belief in the constitution and democracy, the PML-N would never compromise on the rights of the provinces and their people. "Dialogue and consultation are the only viable solutions to all problems," he added. Sanaullah's statement comes a day after PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari threatened to pull the plug on his party's parliamentary backing of the "stubborn" and "tone-deaf" federal government. Bilawal fired a warning shot at the ruling ally's bows, demanding immediate scrapping of the controversial canals project or the PPP will abandon the government, leaving it stranded and severing all ties. "The PPP is demanding that the federal government should immediately stop the controversial canals project and accept our objections, otherwise the PPP won't go along with you," he cautioned at his party's public meeting in Hyderabad on Friday evening. Meanwhile, Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah on Saturday said that the controversial canal project would die down before the 2025-26 federal budget. The CM was responding to questions from journalists in Sindh's Saeedabad area when he claimed that the project would be shelved or halted before the federal budget. "Sindh's people know that only PPP can stop this project," he said, adding that approval of this canal was given by Irsa during the tenure of the caretaker government. "President Asif Zardari made it clear in his address to the joint session of parliament that he could not support canals; thus, all conspiracies failed," Murad added. "The April 18 public meeting in Hyderabad division was larger than the previous rally staged by the party at the same ground." Murad announced that a public gathering would be held in Sukkur on April 25, followed by gatherings in other divisional headquarters. "The party will hold public rallies against the canals in Shaheed Benazirabad, Mirpurkhas and Karachi," the CM was quoted as saying.
