The president of PPP, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, declared on Friday that his party rejected the government channel project, describing it as “unilateral” and warning that it will damage farmers in Punjab.
Punjab Prime Minister Maryam Nawaz, and the head of the Army staff gene, also opened the ambitious Cholistan project to water the lands of South Punjab on February 15 in the middle of a public uproar and strong reserves in Sindh.
Meanwhile, the Sindh Assembly unanimously approved a resolution against the construction of six new channels on the Indo River in March. The resolution also demanded an immediate arrest of any plan, activities or work related to the controversial project until an agreement was reached with all provincial governments, particularly Sindh, to ensure that the rights of the province were completely protected and respected.
Going to a PPP rally in Gardi Khuda Bux on the anniversary of the execution of former Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto today, the Bhutto Sion reaffirmed that the PPP as a party had always fought for the rights of people to the water.
“The PPP workers have grown the old struggles for the fair distribution of water,” Bilawal emphasized. “Either the Unilateral Channel proposal of Musharraf, or that of the founder of PTI, there is no forum in which we have not assumed our fight.
“If you read IRSA’s report, there is also water shortage in Punjab,” he added. “If we drink water from here (Sindh), it will damage farmers in southern Punjab. These are reserves that we have had for a long time.”
Bilawal said he was the first to raise his voice against the Canal’s project, he added that the party expressed his frustration with the federal government at his meeting of the Central Executive Committee in January.
He mentioned that the document on the channel project was presented at the meeting, where it was rejected by the party.
“I said we would not allow this project to occur … the PPP said it did not support this unilateral decision,” Bilawal said. “Even the president of Pakistan said in a joint speech before the Senate that faces the unilateral decisions of the government, since they bring harm to the Federation.”
