{"id":3955,"date":"2025-04-16T00:00:31","date_gmt":"2025-04-16T00:00:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/?p=3955"},"modified":"2025-04-16T00:00:31","modified_gmt":"2025-04-16T00:00:31","slug":"irsa-under-fire-for-opening-tp-link-canal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/?p=3955","title":{"rendered":"IRSA under fire for opening TP Link Canal"},"content":{"rendered":"
The Sindh government and the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) on Tuesday launched a strong criticism against the Indus River System Authority (Irsa) for opening a link canal in Punjab, amid ongoing water shortages in the Indus River system.<\/p>\n

Sindh Irrigation Minister Jam Khan Shoro, PPP spokesperson Shazia Marri, and PPP Senator Sherry Rehman, in separate statements, demanded that the Irsa immediately close the Taunsa-Panjnad (TP) Link Canal, arguing that it was designed solely for flood seasons, not for irrigation.<\/p>\n

Pakistan is currently facing a severe water shortage in the Indus River system. Data shows that during the first 10 days of April, water shortages reached 62% in Sindh and 54% in Punjab. Minister Shoro warned that repeatedly opening the TP Canal would further worsen Sindh’s water crisis.<\/p>\n

“There is no drinking water available in Sindh,” Shoro stated in a letter to Irsa. “Opening the TP Link Canal amid this water shortage is like rubbing salt on Sindh’s wounds. The canal must be closed immediately.”<\/p>\n

PPP Central Information Secretary Shazia Marri questioned the logic behind opening the canal “at a time when Sindh is facing a devastating 62% water shortage.” She stressed that link canals like the TP were never intended to operate year-round.<\/p>\n

“These canals were never meant to be perennial\u0097they should only open during floods,” she said. “Operating the TP Link Canal during a shortage will further deprive downstream areas of water and cause greater harm.”<\/p>\n

Marri backed the Sindh government’s protest against Irsa and reiterated the PPP’s long-standing demand for equitable water distribution under the 1991 Water Accord.<\/p>\n

Calling water diversion under the pretext of “technical necessity” as unacceptable, she said, “Water is not a political tool\u0097it is a constitutional right,” adding that the issue should not be exploited for political gains. “For us, it’s a matter of life and death.”<\/p>\n

She also criticised the federal government’s silence, warning that the Centre “cannot ignore the people’s suffering.” She added: “We demand the immediate closure of the TP Link Canal and urge Irsa and the federal government to intervene.”<\/p>\n

Senator Sherry Rehman condemned the canal’s opening as “highly irresponsible” and a violation of inter-provincial harmony. She demanded its immediate closure and called for a Council of Common Interests (CCI) meeting to address the crisis.<\/p>\n

Rehman noted that the Indus River was already at a 100-year low, and such actions “amount to stealing Sindh’s water rights.”<\/p>\n

“Irsa’s bias is undeniable\u0097its decisions are inflicting severe damage on Sindh,” she said. “We demand transparency, accountability, and fairness in distributing Pakistan’s most vital resource: water.”<\/p>\n

She warned that constructing new canals without provincial consensus would deepen disputes, saying: “Inequitable water distribution will harm millions of farmers, heighten inter-provincial tensions, and weaken the federation.”<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Sindh government and the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) on Tuesday launched a strong criticism against the Indus River System Authority (Irsa) for opening a link canal in Punjab, amid ongoing water shortages in the Indus River system. Sindh Irrigation Minister Jam Khan Shoro, PPP spokesperson Shazia Marri, and PPP Senator Sherry Rehman, in separate […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3955","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-english-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3955","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3955"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3955\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3955"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3955"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3955"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}