People in Pakistan’s southeastern province of Sindh have been protesting against the planned construction of six canals on the Indus River since it was announced. The latest of these protests, a mass strike, was launched on December 18 by the Sindh Taraqi Passand Party (STP).
An estimated budget of 211 billion rupees has been allocated for the construction of canals intended to provide water to the Cholistan region in South Punjab, which is a desert-like area. However, the Sindhi people are expressing concerns that this construction may have disastrous consequences for the 60 million residents of the province, who are currently facing significant water scarcity issues.
Arif Soomro, a 32-year-old rice exporter from Shikarpur, told The Diplomat, “We already have water scarcity in the area, and these new canals would create even more troubles for us.”
He added, “While we want more water, what is already available is going to be taken away as well.”
Soomro’s home district, Shikarpur, is one of the eight districts in Sindh that are currently experiencing drought conditions.
Sindh has a long history of droughts. The province has consistently faced the worst drought situation in Pakistan since 1871. One drought persisted particularly long, starting in 1999 and ending in 2002. It affected around 1.4 million people, 5.6 million heads of cattle, and 12.5 million acres of farmland.
Sindh is a lower riparian province and is dependent on water from the Indus River. It faces annual water shortages of 40 percent to 45 percent due to the unfair distribution of water resources. According to Sindh’s irrigation secretary, Zerif Khero, the province utilized only 3.560 million acre-feet of water from April 1 to May 20, against an allocated 4.645 million acre-feet – representing a 23 percent shortage. The construction of six canals on the Indus River would significantly worsen this situation.
It is believed that until 1975 Sindh wasthe owner of 75 percent of the Indus River waters, but in 1991, its ownership was reduced to only 40 percent.
Pakistan’s Punjab province has been blamed for causing water shortages in Sindh due to the diversion of the Indus River’s water to fields in Punjab. Many people in Sindh feel a sense of discrimination and deprivation regarding water sharing. This feeling is supported by data from the Indus River System Authority (IRSA), which revealed a significant disparity. It highlighted that between 1999 and 2023, Sindh experienced a staggering 40 percent water shortage, while Punjab faced only a 15 percent shortage. IRSA was established in 1992 to regulate and monitor the distribution of water resources from the Indus River in accordance with the agreement among the provinces.
Water tensions between Sindh and Punjab have a long history. For instance, the issue of Kalabagh Dam, first proposed in the 1970s, remained a source of contention between Sindh and Punjab for years. The dam was feared to cause the drying up of Sindh. The plan for new canal has raised similar concerns.
An Alarm Bell for the Farmers
While the construction of canals will impact everyone in Sindh, the farmers will be most affected. According to the World Bank Group, 77 percent of Sindh’s agricultural land relies on irrigation. The proposed canals, redirecting water from the Indus, could devastate Sindh’s agrarian economy, leaving its rural population – 37 percent of whom are already below the poverty line – even more impoverished.
Lateef Shah, a 45-year-old farmer from Badin, told The Diplomat, “The construction of canals on the Indus River will divert our water supply, causing our farms to dry out. Farming is our only source of livelihood, and we cannot pursue any other type of work. Only God can truly understand our fears.”
Shah concluded hopelessly, “We wish the canals would never be built. Our greatest fear is that they will be constructed, leaving us doomed.”
Many people like Shah are concerned that they will lose their livelihoods, as their income comes solely from farming.
Additionally, large swathes of land in Sindh remain uncultivated, primarily due to water shortages. Currently, 18 million acres of agricultural land in Sindh are not being farmed because of an insufficient supply of water. Only 8.2 million acres of land in Sindh are cultivated, while Punjab has more than 30 million acres under cultivation. The diversion of water to South Punjab following the construction of canals will reduce the cultivated land in Sindh still further.
Moreover, the canal project is expected to damage 12 million acres of agricultural land in Sindh to irrigate just 1.2 million acres of desert in South Punjab.
Sindhi farmers have requested the government that instead of constructing six controversial canals over the Indus River in Punjab, it should fully implement the Water Apportionment Accord (WAA) and improve the water storage capacity. The WAA was reached in 1991 among Pakistan’s four provinces on the Indus Basin. Its purpose was to create guidelines for water distribution and to resolve water issues between the provinces.
Sindh’s Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah said that his province has experienced an average water shortfall of 11 percent since the WAA was signed over 30 years ago. He warned that the development of additional canals on the Indus River could jeopardize Sindh’s agricultural economy.
Adding to its difficulties, Sindh is one of the hardest-hit areas by climate change in Pakistan. The devastation caused by the 2022 floods has had a severe impact on Sindhi farmers. Over 4.4 million acres of agricultural land were destroyed, and irrigation and flood protection systems that serve more than half a million farmers across 5.1 million hectares of farmland were damaged. More than 538 irrigation systems and 234 drainage systems, totaling an estimated 7,300 kilometers of canals, were destroyed. Sindhi farmers are still struggling to recover from this destruction and are now facing another impending crisis.
Protests Encompass All Sectors of Sindh
Sindhis are collectively opposed to the construction of the controversial canals, with a unified stance from various groups and parties. On December 15, the Sindh United Party, a Sindhi nationalist party, along with other nationalist parties and social organizations, organized an 18-kilometer march in Sindh to protest against the canal project. Just two days prior, on December 13, the Sindh United Party had initiated a separate march called the “Bedari March” to draw attention to the same issue.
On December 7, Jamaat-e-Islami, a religious political party, organized a 10-kilometer protest march of its own called “Save River, Save Sindh” to oppose the canal project. Another conservative religious political party, Jamiat Ulama-e-Islam, also took part in a protest.
Additionally, the Sindhiani Tehreek protested the construction of new canals. This women-led political organization, founded in 1980 by rural women in Sindh to oppose the Zia-ul-Haq regime, derived inspiration from the thoughts of the Sindhi leftist leader Rasul Bux Palijo.
Left-wing Sindhi political parties have also been actively advocating for the people’s water rights and opposing the construction of new canals. For instance, in addition to the December 18 strike, the STP previously blocked the national highway in protest. Dr. Qadir Magsi of the STP said that building six canals over the Indus River would push Sindh’s people to the brink of disaster.
In October, the Jeay Sindh Mahaz, a Sindhi nationalist political party, had also blocked the national highway for nearly five hours to protest the proposed construction of the new canals.
The Sindh Chamber of Agriculture, the Sindh Abadgar Board, and the Sindh Abadgar Ittehad formed the Anti-Canals Action Committee to protest canal construction. These organizations advocate for farmers’ rights. During the committee-led protest, farmers from various divisions – including Hyderabad, Thatta, Badin, Sajawal, Jamshoro, Tando Allahyar, and Mirpurkhas – joined together in caravans and raised slogans against the project.
Human rights groups also protested against the canal construction. For example, the Sindh Rawadari Committee, a human rights organization, held a rally to oppose the construction of the canals.
The issue of the canals affects all Sindhis, which is why the Grand Democratic Alliance (GDA) too opposed the canal project. They described the construction of six new canals as an anti-Sindh initiative put forth by the Pakistan People’s Party, a member of the ruling coalition. The GDA is an alliance of seven Sindh-based political parties.
Shahid Aziz, a political worker affiliated with the GDA, told The Diplomat, “We will not allow our water to be rerouted. We will oppose any attempts by anyone to take away our share of water.”
He added, “We will continue protesting until the canal construction project is canceled.”
The protests and opposition from Sindhis across the spectrum highlight their determination to resist the construction of canals on the Indus River and to prevent Sindh from becoming a desert. With various groups and parties united for this cause, there is a possibility that the government may reconsider the project due to public pressure. It could learn from past experiences, as large-scale projects that go against the will of the people often face significant challenges. This was evident when the proposal for the Kalabagh Dam was abandoned due to widespread public resistance.