Karachi (Web Desk): The Sindh High Court (SHC) issued a significant ruling on Monday, temporarily halting the construction of canals in the Cholistan and Thal regions.
This came after a petition was filed challenging the water availability certificate granted by the Indus River System Authority (IRSA) for the project.
The petitioner’s lawyer contended that IRSA had been illegally constituted because it lacked a federal representative from Sindh, which rendered its decisions, including the water certificate issued on January 25, invalid.
In response, the federal government requested additional time to prepare a reply to the court’s concerns.
The SHC, however, ordered that a detailed response be submitted by April 18.
Meanwhile, Sindh’s Advocate General stressed that under the court's stay order, work on the canal construction must cease immediately.
Addressing a press conference in Karachi following the proceedings, Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) lawyer Barrister Zamir Ghumro confirmed that the SHC’s ruling had blocked the water certificate issued by IRSA and had stopped any work related to the canal construction.
The PPP leader further explained that although the matter had been referred to the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC), the project had never received formal approval, making any ongoing construction illegal. He also pointed out that Sindh’s residents had been protesting the project, fearing its potential impact. He declared the stay order a clear legal victory for Sindh.
IRSA had approved the supply of water for the Cholistan Canal project, which would divert water from the Sutlej River at the Sulemanki Headworks, providing access to 450,000 acre-feet of water to Punjab.
This decision, however, has been heavily criticized by Sindh, which views it as an unjust move that favors Punjab at the expense of Sindh’s water resources.
It is pertinent to mention that the Cholistan Canal project has sparked a broader dispute between the federal and provincial governments, particularly since the Centre proposed constructing six canals from the Indus River to irrigate the Cholistan desert.
This plan was strongly rejected by Sindh’s ruling party, the PPP, along with various Sindh nationalist groups.
The Cholistan Canal project is expected to cost around Rs211.4 billion and would irrigate 400,000 acres of land.
Despite this, the project has been met with widespread opposition in Sindh, where political, religious, and nationalist organizations, along with civil society groups, have organized protests.
These groups argue that the project would deplete the water resources available to Sindh, exacerbating existing water shortages.
