Minister for Information & Local Government Nasir Shah has said that the PTI and GDA leaders, elected from Sindh, were trying to defuse water shortage issue in Sindh by propagating water shortage in the system but none of them was daring to talk against opening of Chashma-Jhelum Canal illegally by the Punjab to steal water share of Sindh.
In a statement issued here on Saturday, Nasir Shah said that the leader of opposition in Sindh Assembly Haleem Adil Shaikh and Federal Minister DrFahmida Mirza of GDA, elected from Sindh, were trying to save their faces by saying that there was water shortage in the entire system, therefore Sindh was also facing shortage.
“I want to tell them that the highhandedness being made by the Punjab in connivance of IRSA was an open secret,” he said and added why the PTI and GDA leaders were not raising voice against opening of CJ canal by the Punjab in violation of the water accord which has created Karbala-like situation in Sindh.
He added that the standing crops of Kharif were turning pale in Sindh, but the Punjab was irrigating its lands through stolen water.
“IRSA, being the regulatory body, has completely failed to fulfil its responsibilities,” he said and urged the IRSA to, at least, criticize illegal opening of the CJ canal, if it has no teeth to close it [CJ].
Responding to Haleem Adil Shaikh’s statement, Nasir Shah said that Haleem should have briefed the prime minister about the land grabbers who have been wreaking havoc with the state lands in Sindh, but this might have exposed him.
Shah has said that the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation has engaged seven contractors to clean its 41 nullahs.
“The KMC has awarded direct contracts as per decision taken in the Provincial Coordination & Implementation Committee (PCIC) meeting held on May 6, 2021,” he said and added the decision to engage the contractors directly was taken to mitigate the urban floods by cleaning the nullahs before the start of monsoon.
The Minister Local Government said that 555 nullahs, including 41 of KMC and 514 of DMCs were being cleaned for which the provincial government has contributed Rs950 million while the KMC and DMCs would pay Rs90 million from their resources.
He added that the local government department has already notified the Operational/Oversight Committee to monitor cleaning activities of all the 555 nullahs.
