By Salman Shah
KARACHI: Senator Ajiz Dhamrah, spokesperson for the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Sindh, held a press conference at the Karachi Press Club, delivering a sharp rebuke to the federal government’s proposed construction of six new canals on Indus River, which he condemned as a blatant disregard for Sindh’s water rights.
Ajiz Dhamrah, accompanied by Sindh government spokespersons Syeda Tehseen Abidi and Abdul Waheed Halepoto, strongly criticized the exclusion of Sindh from the canal development scheme, calling it a grave injustice to the lower riparian province. He warned that Sindh is already grappling with severe water shortages, and any unilateral move to build additional canals upstream would further deprive the province of its constitutional share.
Dhamrah cautioned that such discriminatory policies could undermine interprovincial harmony and threaten the spirit of federalism in Pakistan. Meanwhile, Sindh’s spokesperson Syeda Tehseen Abidi stressed that water is a shared national resource that must be distributed equally. She reaffirmed that the Sindh government categorically opposed any project that would bypass interprovincial consensus and violate the constitutional framework governing water allocation. Abdul Waheed Halepoto added that ignoring Sindh’s long-standing grievances on water rights is unacceptable, particularly as the province continues to suffer from desertification, declining agricultural productivity, and ecological degradation.
The leaders collectively demanded that the federal government halt all work on the proposed canals until a fair, transparent, and inclusive consultation process is conducted with all provinces, particularly Sindh. They also called for urgent reforms in the Indus River System Authority (IRSA) to ensure just and equitable water distribution.
