By Staff Reporter
KARACHI: The provincial Sindh High Court on Monday suspended a water allocation permit issued by federal regulators to Punjab province for constructing irrigation canals in the Cholistan region, apparently intensifying a water rights clash between the two provinces.
The court granted a stay against the January 25 water availability certificate issued by the Indus River System Authority (IRSA), which had approved Punjab’s Cholistan Canal project.
The initiative aimed to divert 450,000 acre-feet of water annually from the Sutlej River at Sulemanki Headworks, a move Sindh claims violates its rights under the 1991 Water Accord.
During Monday’s hearing, the petitioner’s counsel challenged IRSA’s legal authority, alleging the body’s formation was unconstitutional and that it lacked representation from Sindh.
The federal government requested additional time to file its response. The SHC ordered a detailed reply by April 18, effectively pausing the projects.
Sindh Irrigation Minister Jam Khan Shoro hailed the ruling as a “victory for constitutional rights,” urging IRSA to revoke the canal approvals and appoint a representative from Sindh. “This project risks destabilising Sindh’s agrarian economy,” Shoro said in a statement.
The controversy has galvanized protests across Sindh, with farmers, civil society groups, and opposition parties rallying against the federal government’s plan to build six canals on the Indus River.
Critics argue the projects contravene the Water Accord, which mandates equitable water sharing among Pakistan’s four provinces.
The case underscores persistent tensions over resource governance in the country, where Punjab, the most populous province, often faces accusations of leveraging its political clout to secure disproportionate water shares. IRSA, established in 1992 to mediate such disputes, time to time faces scrutiny over its neutrality amid allegations of procedural violations.
In March, the provincial Sindh Assembly unanimously passed a resolution rejecting the canals as “illegal” and demanding IRSA halt all related activity until consensus is reached.
Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, a key ally in the coalition government of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, escalated tensions during a weekend rally in Larkana, warning the federal government to abandon the projects. “Sindh will not tolerate another Kalabagh Dam-like betrayal,” he said, referencing the party’s decades-long opposition to the shelved mega-dam.
Pakistan, among the world’s most water-stressed nations, has long struggled to balance irrigation needs with rising demand from its 242 million people. The Indus River system, which provides 90 percent of the country’s freshwater, remains a flashpoint in its fractious federal-provincial relations.
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