HYDERABAD: The Sindh Abadgar Board (SAB) has unanimously rejected the proposed Jalalpur canal project, terming it constitutionally flawed, technically unsound and environmentally unsustainable. The decision was taken during a meeting of the board held under the chairmanship of SAB President Mahmood Nawaz Shah.
The board expressed serious concerns over what it described as legal and technical shortcomings in the project, saying that Sindh’s constitutional objections against the scheme are still pending with the Council of Common Interests.
It criticised the Indus River System Authority (Irsa) for issuing water availability certificates despite an existing water deficit in the Indus Basin. The meeting noted that the Jalalpur canal is planned to irrigate about 172,000 acres through a 116km canal.
They questioned the source of water for the project when the allocations under the 1991 Water Apportionment Accord are already fully committed to the existing canal systems that themselves face persistent shortages.
The board rejected Irsa’s claim that water would be supplied through the Rasool Barrage, arguing that the barrage already serves its own command area, and that the project would ultimately divert water from the Indus River, aggravating shortages for downstream farmers, communities and fragile ecosystems in Sindh.
The meeting also maintained that Irsa had ignored the principle of equitable water distribution, and failed to consider the environmental and climate-related consequences of reducing downstream flows.
Discussing Pakistan’s broader water challenges, the SAB observed that nearly 95 per cent of the country’s available water is consumed by agriculture, leaving little room for expanding irrigated land.
The board called for improving water-use efficiency through modern irrigation technologies instead of constructing new canals. It pointed out that Pakistan’s agricultural water productivity stands at only 0.133kg per cubic metre, which is among the lowest in the region.
It argued that investing the estimated Rs85 billion cost of the Jalalpur canal project in high-efficiency irrigation systems can convert over 500,000 acres to modern irrigation, save sufficient water to irrigate around 150,000 additional acres, and significantly enhance crop yields and quality.
The board urged the federal government to abandon projects lacking constitutional and technical justification, and instead adopt a prudent, evidence-based and conservation-led national water strategy in consultation with all the provinces.
