EXCLUSIVE: President Zardari ‘approved’ canals project in meetings last year, secret documents reveal

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and multiple civil and political groups have been expressing reservations and protesting over the controversial canal project in Punjab’s Cholistan desert.

However, the documents said that President Asif Ali Zardari gave the ‘go-ahead’ in July last year after he was briefed on the canal project under the Green Pakistan Initiative.

As the issue ignited, PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari denounced the federal government’s decision to pursue the canal project over the Indus River.

The protest and reservations came after the topic came into discussion in February this year, when Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz and COAS Gen Asim Munir inaugurated the Cholistan project.

According to the minutes of meeting, a copy of which is available with Daily Ausaf, President Zardari was briefed on the simultaneous construction of six strategic canals in Punjab’s Cholistan and other provinces.

Sources available with the information said the President gave in-principle approval for the construction of all strategic canals and the proposed amendment in the IRSA Act.

As per the documents, Zardari chaired a meeting on the Green Pakistan Initiative at Aiwan-e-Sadr on July 8, 2024, where he was briefed on “the importance of water and food security, implementation of Telemetry System for Pakistan Irrigation Networks, Restructuring of IRSA Policy, and development of Strategic Canals.”

President apprised the necessity of amendments in the existing IRSA Act and reiterated his all-out support in the approval of the Act from Parliament for enactment as law at the earliest.

The meeting also discussed the appointment of Chairman IRSA, and the “President emphasized employment of an honest, impartial and well-reputed person, preferably from lower riparian provinces, after enactment of the law,” the document read.

As per the recent development, the federal government has stopped work on the construction of canals on the Indus River after the Sindh High Court (SHC) issued a restraining order.

A federal law officer on Friday informed the Sindh High Court about the development.

The high court issued the restraining order, citing the improper composition of the Indus River System Authority (Irsa), which was not in accordance with the IRSA Act, 1992.