Punjab using its legal water share, minister tells PA

LAHORE: Minister for Irrigation Sardar Mohsin Leghari on Tuesday defended Punjab over water issue and said the province was using its just share and urged the politicians from Sindh to find out a genuine solution to the issue rather than doing politics over it.

To a question by PMLN's Samiullah Khan regarding the objections raised by Sindh, the irrigation minister said there was a need to promote harmony instead of creating the seeds of hatred.

"We have never objected to how and where our brethren from Sindh use their share of water" said Mohsin. He said it was unfortunate that brethren from Sindh were seen doing politics over the issue of water rather than presenting a logic over it. He said Irsa had also stated that Punjab was using its share of water and said the water resources of the country were owned by all the four provinces.

Mohsin Leghari said Greater Thal Canal is a project of immense strategic and political importance for Punjab. On its completion, he said, it would irrigate 1.7 million acres in five poorest districts of Punjab and benefit around 524,000 farming families.

Unfortunately, while canal projects for rest of the provinces were completed with federal funding, Greater Thal Canal project was abandoned only after undertaking two of the promised six components with an expenditure of 10.17 billion (one-third of the amount committed by federal government), he said and added despite repeated requests from Punjab, federal government remained unmoved and in 2005 it advised that Punjab may take up remaining components from its own resources.

Now, he said that after protracted negotiation, Punjab had secured US$ 200 million financial assistance from Asian Development Bank for construction of Chaubara Branch which is one of leftover components of the Greater Thal Canal project and has approached ECNEC for approval.

Mohsin Leghari said with a view to develop national consensus on Water Apportionment Accord, Punjab scarified 5pc of its existing share in Indus waters in Rabi, 38pc of proportionate share it was likely to receive from future storages and 13pc of proportionate share in flood supplies received in the system annually.

In return, he said that on Punjab’s insistence, a separate water budget for Greater Thal Canal was incorporated in the Water Accord as this project had been badly delayed due to objections from Sindh. The approved project for Greater Thal Canal comprised six components viz construction of Main Canal, Mankera Branch, Chaubara Branch, Dhingana Branch, Nurpur Branch and Mehmood Sub-Branch and was to be executed at a cost of Rs30.47 billion, he told the PA.

He told the house that the share of Greater Thal Canal is included in the Water Apportionment Accord which was reached with full consensus of all four provinces and Sindh cannot move out of it at this stage. A certificate that water is available for Greater Thal Canal was issued by Irsa as back as 2002 and it has been revalidated by it November 2021, he stated.