Canal controversy: Sindh says Irsa's water certificate a 'bundle of lie'

KARACHI: The Government of Sindh has written another letter to the federal government over the contentious canal project from Indus River.

The Sindh government has demanded the federal government to immediately convene a session of the Council of Common Interest (CCI) in its letter.

“The issue of the certification of the Cholistan canal project by the Indus River System Authority (IRSA) will be raised in the CCI session, so as to cancel the illegal step of the Irsa,” letter read.

Sindh government has said that the Irsa’s water availability certificate has been a bundle of lie. “Sindh didn’t receive its share of river water from the river authority according to the 1991 water accord”.

“The issue of the canal certification should be discussed in the CCI session,” provincial government demanded in its letter.

Pakistan People’s Party earlier decided to forward the canals issue to President Asif Zardari to raise the matter with the federal government.

President Zardari will discuss the matter of building six new canals on Indus River with the federal government after Eid ul Fitr, according to the party sources.

The president will discuss the matter with the prime minister and demand to convene the session of the constitutional forum the Council of Common Interest (CCI) to discuss the issue.

Sindh’s Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah yesterday said that President Asif Ali Zardari didn’t approve any canal project in a meeting.

“President was told about briefing on irrigation and additional land cultivation, but the wrong minutes of the meeting issued,” Sindh’s chief minister said in a press conference yesterday.

Referring to the meeting chaired by President Zardari, Murad Ali Shah said that the meeting minutes were wrongly used to suggest presidential approval of the canal projects.

He said Sindh’s representative had recorded the province’s objection when the issue of six canals, without mentioning the name of Cholistan, was discussed in the ECNEC.