Six canals project: Govt must take Bilawal’s warning seriously or ‘risk collapse’: Shazia

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Peoples Party Parliamentarians (PPP-P) Spokesperson Shazia Marri warned the federal government on Saturday to take serious note of PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari’s recent warning regarding the canals project, otherwise, “it risks collapsing at any moment”.

Bilawal “has made it clear--if it comes to choosing between the government and the people, he will always stand with the people,” she said in a statement, calling on the federal government to immediately withdraw its controversial plan about the construction of six new canals on the River Indus.

Shazia Marri emphasised the PPP chairman’s “unwavering stance with the people”, highlighting that Bilawal Bhutto addressed a massive public rally in Hyderabad “where people outright rejected the federal government’s canal project”. “At yesterday’s rally, the crowd could be heard chanting in unison: ‘No to canals!’—a clear and resounding message to the federal government.”

Shazia Marri said, “The public is already suffering from an acute water shortage--there is no justification whatsoever for carving out new canals.”

She reiterated that the strength of the PPP lies solely in the people, not in ministries or positions of power.

She said, “The fight for water rights is part of Chairman Bilawal’s legacy—Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto also fiercely opposed the Kalabagh Dam. She said “We reject this canal project because it poses a real threat to the federation. No project that is rejected by the people of the provinces can ever be in favour of the federation,” she stressed.

She said the PPP chairman also raised concerns about the broader implications of such policies. She said the next public rally of the Pakistan Peoples Party will be held in Sukkur on April 25.