Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has called an urgent meeting of the Council of Common Interests (CCI) today, following a request from the Sindh government, announced Sindh Senior Minister Sharjeel Inam Memon.
Originally scheduled for May 2, the meeting has been brought forward in response to Sindh’s request for an immediate discussion.
Memon confirmed that the meeting, which will be chaired by Prime Minister Shehbaz, is set to take place this evening in Islamabad. He revealed that the canal projects will be a key focus of the discussions, with a decision anticipated today on the matter.
Memon discussed the ongoing protests in Sindh, which have led to severe traffic disruptions and adversely affected trade across the province. “The transport of goods had stopped, which harmed both businesses and farmers, as goods could not be transported to other provinces,” he said.
Despite calls for continued protests until a decision is reached at the CCI meeting, Memon expressed gratitude to the federal government for responding to their appeal and advancing the meeting. He expressed hope that the protests would end following the CCI’s resolution of the issue.
Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah, along with other provincial officials, is expected to represent Sindh at the CCI meeting today.
The Canal Controversy
The ongoing debate over the Cholistan Canal project has become a major point of contention between the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP)-led Sindh government and the federal government under Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.
The federal government’s plan to construct six canals on the Indus River to irrigate the Cholistan desert has been met with strong opposition from Sindh’s ruling PPP and various nationalist groups in the province.
Government sources state that the Rs211.4 billion Cholistan canal project aims to transform thousands of acres of barren land for agricultural use, potentially bringing 400,000 acres under cultivation.
However, this plan has sparked widespread protests, with political parties, civil society organizations, nationalist groups, and lawyers across Sindh staging rallies and sit-ins in opposition to the controversial project.
