By Staff Reporter
ISLAMABAD: The Senate descended into chaos on Tuesday as lawmakers from the opposition Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and coalition partner Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) clashed over competing resolutions on the contentious Cholistan canal project, exposing deep rifts over water rights.
Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar told the upper house that the government was pursuing multi-party consultations to address the issue, particularly with the Sindh government, to address concerns about water diversion.
The Cholistan canal, aimed at channeling Indus River water to irrigate Punjab’s arid lands, has drawn fierce opposition from Sindh. The PPP and the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), partners in the coalition government, have clashed over the construction of new canals, a project that has fueled protests across Sindh province and exposed provincial rivalries.
The government’s plan to construct six canals diverting water from the Indus River to irrigate Punjab’s Cholistan desert. The PPP, which governs Sindh, argues the Rs211.4 billion initiative violates a 1991 water-sharing accord and risks exacerbating water shortages in the agrarian region.
Tensions flared when PTI Senator Saifullah Abro demanded priority for his party’s resolution, while PPP Senator Sherry Rehman insisted her motion take precedence.
Senate Chairman Yousuf Raza Gilani’s decision to prioritize the question hour sparked a PTI protest, with senators chanting slogans and converging near the chairman’s dais, accusing the government of favoring corporate farming.
The session turned personal when PTI Senator Falak Naz Chitrali accused the PPP of hypocrisy, prompting PPP Senator Shahadat Awan to wave a pen and watch, calling PTI founder Imran Khan a “watch thief” in a jab at past controversies.
PPP senators staged a walkout over the canal project. Later, Awan raised a quorum issue during Tarar’s speech, but a headcount confirmed the session’s validity.
Tarar sought to ease tensions, assuring lawmakers the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N)-led government would resolve the issue constitutionally and through dialogue with Sindh.
He said Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had tasked senior adviser Rana Sanaullah with engaging Sindh authorities for a consensus-driven solution, vowing no unilateral action.
Opposition Leader Syed Shibli Faraz accused the government of paralyzing Sindh’s water system and criticized the PPP’s inconsistent stance.
Outside Parliament, PPP Vice President Senator Sherry Rehman called for an urgent Council of Common Interests (CCI) meeting to address the water crisis affecting Sindh and other provinces.
She urged a halt to controversial canal projects, warning of inter-provincial discord. “The Indus River is at record-low flows for the first time in a century. Where will the water come from?” she told reporters, noting PPP leaders Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari and Asif Ali Zardari oppose new canals without national consensus.
Rehman called water scarcity a “national emergency” threatening agriculture and livelihoods, especially in Sindh’s drought-hit Badin, Thatta, and Sujawal districts.
She criticized opaque water allocations and questioned recent Indus River System Authority (IRSA) reports, saying, “Unilateral diversion is not federalism; it’s injustice.”
Rehman advocated CCI-led resolutions over “backdoor deals” and warned of peaceful but firm resistance if Sindh’s rights were ignored.
Meanwhile, Sindh Senior Minister Sharjeel Inam Memon expressed confidence in a swift resolution, stating that Prime Minister Sharif was personally engaged in resolving the issue.
Memon said Sanaullah had contacted him three times recently and reached out to leaders of the Sindh United Party (SUP), Qaumi Awami Tehreek, and Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam (JUI-F) in Sindh for talks.
He reaffirmed the PPP’s opposition to the canals, noting Sindh’s objection to a January 2024 IRSA water certificate for Punjab, raised by representative Ehsan Leghari, and a June 2025 summary signed by the chief minister.
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