AMID rapidly depleting water resources, Punjab has embarked upon an exercise to build new canals and develop new command areas. The Green Pakistan Initiative is pursuing its agenda of ploughing millions of acres of hitherto barren land, especially in Cholistan.
With an appetite for large-scale corporate agriculture, it is pressing the government to complete six strategic canals on a fast-track basis. These include the Chubara Canal as the second phase of the Greater Thal Canal, the Kachhi Canal, the Rainee Canal, the Thar Canal, the Chashma Right Bank Canal and the Cholistan Flood Feeder Canal. The total command area of these canals is 3.58 million acres.
Sindh, the lowest riparian, is upset at the recent decision of the Central Development Working Party that disregarded its objections and approved the Cholistan Flood Feeder Canal. This canal is part of the Smaller Cholistan irrigation project proposed on the Sutlej River. The canal will further feed four canal systems to irrigate 0.6m acres in the Cholistan desert of Bahawalpur and Bahawal Nagar districts. Water availability for this project was certified by the Indus River System Authority (Irsa) in January 2024. Sindh has concerns that the Sutlej receives water when India releases........