Sindh seeks Rs 20bln pending water charges from Centre

KARACHI: The Sindh government has demanded Rs 20 billion in pending water charges from federal government institutions, ARY News reported.

As per details, the Sindh Assembly’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has taken up the matter with the federal government, seeking payment for water facilities provided to various federal institutions.

According to Chairman PAC Nisar Khuhro, the province is owed Rs 10 billion by the Pakistan Steel Mills alone. Khuhro emphasized that the federal government’s failure to pay these dues constitutes a form of exploitation against Sindh. The PAC has directed the relevant authorities to submit a report on the matter by January 21.

Earlier in a separate development, Chief Minister Sindh opposed construction of Cholistan canals from Indus River in a letter written to Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar.

“The CDWP illegally approved Cholistan canals project on October 11,” Sindh’s chief minister said in the letter expressing reservations over the canals project.

The federal canal being built from Sulemanki Headworks, which will get 4122 cusecs of water for four canals named as New Fatah Canal System, New Murad Canal System, New Hakra Canal System and New Haroon Canal System.

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This water will be used to irrigate 6,10,000 acres of land in Bahawalpur and Bahawalnagar districts.

The Govt of Punjab got a letter of water availability from the Indus River System Authority (IRSA), but the Sindh’s representative didn’t agree with it.