PPP will take to streets, if canals project not taken back: Murad

KARACHI: Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah has strictly warned regarding the controversial Sindh canal project, saying that the Government of Sindh will not let it be implemented without provincial approval, ARY News reported.

In his statement to the media in Karachi, Murad Ali Shah highlighted that the project, irrespective of its origin, is not acceptable to the Sindh government.

He requested PM Shehbaz Sharif to deal with this situation honestly and ponder over the possible consequences.

Murad Ali Shah guaranteed that the Sindh government and the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) are dedicated to stopping the Sindh canal project from having further progress, connecting public support to accomplish this goal.

Murad Ali Shah expressed his dissatisfaction with the ongoing status of the Sindh canal project, noticing that work had been delayed since July 2024, with approval undecided since November 2024 in the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC).

The Chief Minister, Murad Ali Shah, urged participants to have a peaceful protest regarding the Sindh canal project and avoid road obstructions to lessen public inconvenience.

Earlier, the anti-canal protests in Sindh disrupted the supply chain, affecting the supply of petroleum products to Punjab and the interior of Sindh.

The Oil Companies Advisory Council (OCAC), in a letter addressed to the Chief Secretary of Sindh, informed that around 800 oil tankers have been stranded at various places in the Larkana and Sukkur regions.

In view of the current situation supply of petroleum products to Punjab and the interior of Sindh could be affected, the OCAC letter read.

OCAC has apprehended a shortage of petroleum products given the situation.

The sit-ins being staged on Sindh’s highways against the approval of controversial Sindh canal projects on the Indus River, which has been seen as a threat to the province’s water resources.