Khuhro warns Centre against curtailing Sindh’s share in water, gas, fiscal resources

The federal government will not be allowed to curtail the Sindh's due constitutional share in the fiscal, gas and water resources.

Sindh Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) President Nisar Khuhro said this in a statement issued on Sunday. He warned the federal government against violating the Constitution when it came to allocating the share of Sindh from the national fiscal funds and natural resources.

He said the federal government would violate the Constitution if it curtailed gas supply to Sindh, lessened Sindh's water share against the provisions of the Water Accord of 1991 and slashed the finances paid to the province as per the National Finance Commission (NFC) award arrangement.

Khuhro said the low gas pressure and curtailment of gas supply to households in Sindh was being carried out in violation of the Constitution. He mentioned the Article 158 of the Constitution, which mandated that the gas needs of a province that possessed natural gas resources should be foremost fulfilled.

He lamented that households and industries in Sindh had been facing a gas shortage despite the fact that the province produced 2,100 MMCFD gas which accounted for 65 per cent of the total natural gas production in Pakistan.

The PPP senior leader also rejected a recent decision of the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra) to increase gas prices by 25 per cent. He maintained that Ogra, which was devoid of due provincial representation had been unilaterally making decisions.

He urged the federal government to reduce the gas prices in the best interest of the consumers in the country and let a representative from Sindh sit on Ogra’s board. Khuhro demanded that Ogra make such vital decisions after due constitutions.

The Sindh PPP chief asked the federal government not to compel industrial consumers in the province to buy expensive LNG because the province had an abundance of natural gas resources.

He also rejected a proposed plan to build new canals to draw additional water from the Indus River at the cost of the water share of Sindh. Khuhro said the Sindh government had categorically rejected any plan to build new canals on the Indus River. He said the federal government must reverse its decision of building new canals because the Indus River lacked water to feed any fresh irrigation channels.

He lamented that farming activities on vast portions of Sindh's farmlands had been halted because the province could not obtain its due water share as allocated in the 1991 Water Accord.

He said the Council of Common Interests (CCI) was the relevant constitutional forum to discuss such issues, and its meetings should be held every three months to tackle such controversial matters.

He lamented that the CCI did not meet on a regular basis. Khuhro also urged the federal government to issue a new NFC award in 2025, stating that the federal government had failed to meet the constitutional requirement of issuing a new NFC award every five years.