Good sense seems to have finally prevailed, with the federal government by deferring the planned channel projects, including the controversial Cholistan channel, for now. After a meeting between Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and PPP leader Bilwal Bhutto-Zardari on Thursday, the government said it will undertake projects only if a consensus is achieved between the provinces. Next week a meeting of the Common Interests Council will meet with respect to the issue. “…[W]He unanimously decided that a new channel will not be built until the CCI decision, ”Sharif told a joint press conference together with Mr. Bhutto-Zardari.
Given the sensibilities of the interprovincial distribution of water, a wisest political leadership would have advanced to the public protest about the projects of the channel by carrying the controversial scheme of Cholistan to the CCI for a consensus decision even before starting work on its viability. That he took months of protests in every Sindh against the Cholistan channel, the complete blockade of the industrial and other supply chains towards and from Punjab during the last week and a half, and the ‘threats’ of the PPP to leave the coalition before the government receded shows that the real decision -making powers on the project are in another place.
That the matter has been sent to the CCI, the highest constitutional forum empowered to decide disputes that involve the provinces, indicates that the doors to an arbitrary decision on the scheme may have been closed. So far, so good. But the pause does not necessarily guarantee that the project has been completely canceled. Even so, it is unlikely that the Plan of the Channel Advance in the short term, at least not, unless a solid and independent technical study of the proposed water channel is carried out and the acceptance of all the provinces is achieved, especially Sindh.
This development must be sufficient to reassure protesters who should lift the blockade of the national road to allow the soft cargo and passenger movement between unindh and punjab. Without a doubt, the episode has left a bad taste in the mouth and had added to the tension of the Federation. However, the word of the prime minister on the subject must be respected. PML-N is also expected to function and avoid such controversies in the future.
Posted in Dawn, April 26, 2025
