Punjab Irrigation Minister Kazim Pirzada has reignited the long-standing Kalabagh Dam debate, urging its construction amid growing tensions over the controversial six-canal project on the Indus River. Speaking on a private TV channel, Pirzada argued that the dam is crucial for water storage during floods and beneficial to all provinces, including Sindh and Balochistan.
His comments come as the canal project—part of the $3.3 billion Green Pakistan Initiative—faces stiff resistance from the PPP and Sindhi nationalist groups. The plan aims to irrigate 1.2 million acres in southern Punjab but has been slammed as a “unilateral” move by PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari.
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Punjab Information Minister Azma Bokhari defended the scheme, asserting that President Asif Ali Zardari had approved the canals, and accused PPP of politicising water issues. She challenged Bilawal’s criticism, saying he should raise concerns in formal meetings, not at rallies.
Sindh Information Minister Sharjeel Inam Memon hit back, questioning Bokhari’s grasp of constitutional law. He said the president lacks the authority to approve such development projects, calling any such documentation “fabricated” and procedurally flawed.
With five of the canals planned on the Indus and one on the Sutlej, the controversy has deepened fault lines between Punjab and Sindh, casting uncertainty over a project hailed as transformative for southern Punjab’s arid lands.
