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Murad vows to resist Cholistan canal project at every forum

KARACHI: Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah has said that his government will continue to oppose the controversial Cholistan canal project and will plead its case at every government forum.

“The PPP government knows how to protect the rights of the people of Sindh,” he said while talking to the media after launching the polio eradication campaign at the SMB Fatima Jinnah School, Garden on Monday.

The CM made it clear that he was against the construction of the Cholistan Canal and is currently contesting the issue in the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (Ecnec).

The Rs211.3 billion Cholistan canal project is part of the larger Green Pakistan Initiative and supported by the federal government, the Punjab irrigation Department, the Special Investment Facilitation Council (SIFC) and the Punjab Board of Revenue to support agriculture in the Cholistan region through corporate farming and foreign investment.

To a question, the CM said that the Indus River System Authority (Irsa) had certified to provide water to the Cholistan canal if commissioned. “On September 20, Irrigation Minister Jam Khan Shoro attended the Central Development Working Party (CDWP) and opposed the approval of the canal,” he said.

Giving details about a recent meeting of the CDWP that was originally scheduled for October 11 at 9am, he stated: “Before the meeting, I spoke with Federal Minister for Planning Ahsan Iqbal and informed him that the Sindh government would never accept the Cholistan canal.”

He mentioned that he was assured by the federal minister that the agenda for the Cholistan Canal would be deferred. “However, the meeting took place on October 11 at 11pm and approved the Cholistan canal project despite strong opposition from the Sindh representative.”

CM Shah said Ecnec is the final forum where Sindh will plead its case. He said that Sindh government had already challenged the canal in the Council of Common Interests (CCI).

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