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Badin

Matter of Life and Death

The long-term consequences of the Six Canal project have alarmed the people of Sindh.

By Sajad Jatoi | April 2025


With the stiff reaction of the people of Sindh to the construction of six controversial strategic canals on the Indus River under the Green Pakistan Initiative, a group of people, particularly from the establishment and pro-Punjab circles, has come to the fore. They are dismissing the protests of Sindhis as opposition to Pakistan’s progress and development. Hence, this misrepresentation has made clarification more necessary than ever.

Before discussing and debating the canal project further, it is essential to state that the nationwide protests in Sindh are not aimed at opposing the progress and development of Punjab. Some hate-mongers have deliberately tried to misrepresent the situation, claiming that Sindhis do not wish to see Punjab prosper. This is a completely false assumption and must be condemned.

Sindhis want to see Punjab progress; however, they do not want it to happen at the cost of their survival. They will never allow Punjab or any other province to prosper at their expense. No federating unit would accept destruction for the benefit of another. To illustrate, Sindh is not opposing the canals being built in Punjab. It is also against the Rainee and Thar canals, part of the Six Strategic Canal project and will irrigate land in Sindh. So, discussing why Sindh has reservations over this initiative is essential.

The project is controversial not just in constitutional terms but also in socio-economic and technical aspects. Constitutionally, the federal or any provincial government cannot proceed with an inter-provincial project without getting it approved by the Council of Common Interests (CCI). In the case of the controversial canals, the project is still pending before the CCI. The Sindh government has raised concerns and wants the matter resolved through the CCI.

From a socio-economic perspective, the project is contentious because Pakistan does not have enough river water to justify new canals. Water will have to be reallocated from one region to irrigate another. To illustrate, Pakistan is facing an acute water shortage even now, as the country’s major dams are fast approaching dead levels. According to IRSA, Sindh will face a 35% water shortage in the last leg of the current wheat crop. Punjab will also face a similar situation.

However, the federal government advances the argument that it is planning to build canals because Pakistan has sufficient water. It says that IRSA has granted a water availability certificate. However, the federal government cannot create new canals only because IRSA gives it a water availability certificate. IRSA has no right to issue such documents. It is a regulatory body that oversees water apportionment between different provinces. So, building canals on the advice of IRSA is as unconstitutional as it can be.

While the Punjab government cites IRSA’s certification of “magical” water availability, experts have provided data showing that Punjab can barely meet its usual needs in a normal year. How, then, can Punjab irrigate new barren lands? This revelation has intensified the concerns of the Sindh government and its people that the share of water allocated to the lower provinces will be diverted, leading to severe socio-economic consequences for the people of Sindh, a lower riparian. The province is a semi-arid region, and with the Indus River running dry, Sindh’s agriculture and, consequently, its people will be doomed.


Moreover, if this project materializes, it will not come without environmental consequences. The Indus Delta, already on the verge of destruction, will be lost to the sea. According to the World Bank, the required amount of water left down the Kotri River should be 10 million acre-feet (MAF). However, data shows water is released into the delta as low as 0.7MAF. Without water, the sea will intrude into the delta and coastal areas of Sindh, with the lands of Thatta and Badin already lost to the sea. According to a 2019 study by the Pakistan Council of Research in Water Resources, approximately 2.2 million acres of fertile land have been rendered unproductive due to seawater encroachment. With Sindh’s water diverted to Cholistan, a significant portion of Sindh will turn arid, annihilating the province’s flora and fauna.
Another controversial aspect of the Green Pakistan Initiative is the government’s decision to hand over the land to private companies. No information has been made public regarding the criteria for handing over the land, which has caused confusion in the local population of the Cholistan desert.

Technically, the project is contentious because it aims to turn the desert into green farmland by using canal water.

Technically, the project is contentious because it aims to turn the desert into green farmland with the help of canal water. Perhaps the authorities think that by diverting water to the desert, they will turn it into green farmland. However, the desert has its own ecosystem. Water is not the only factor responsible for its desertification. Experts like Hassan Abbass say canal water can never irrigate a desert, as it cannot be used for drip and sprinkle irrigation. This is because canal water contains silt, and if it is pumped through pressure, it will clog the pressure pumps, thereby causing system failure. Besides, the water cannot be stored in the desert due to waterlogging issues.

Moreover, examples from the neighboring country, India, show that a canal irrigation system cannot function effectively in a desert. For example, India failed to turn Rajasthan green after diverting water from three rivers under the Indira Gandhi Canal project.

The long-term consequences of the canal project have alarmed the people of Sindh. They consider this a matter of life and death and have started a mass movement. All political parties have united and started a campaign to get this project canceled. People from all walks of life, including the legal fraternity, have started protesting. They are holding long marches from Sukkur to Karachi and staging demonstrations across Sindh. They want the federal government and Punjab to immediately listen to their legitimate concerns and abandon this project.

However, this strong reaction is lost on the federal and Punjab governments. They want to continue with the project without even feeling the need to wait for its approval by the CCI. While talking about the federal government’s attitude, an activist said that it appears the authorities believe that any drop of water flowing down the Guddu Barrage goes to waste. Perhaps they assume Sindh is a non-entity.

Therefore, those in power should abandon these unrealistic grand visions of progress. Instead, they must focus on real socio-economic and environmental issues and seek solutions through ingenious and just means. Pakistan’s progress lies in resolving long-standing social, economic, political, and environmental issues, not in building controversial strategic canals. Such an approach will amplify already long-festering problems. Let’s hope that sanity prevails this time.

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