PM summons key meeting over construction of new canals issue

ISLAMABAD (Dunya News) - Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has summoned an important meeting to be held today (Thursday) regarding the canal issue.

According to sources, the meeting, to be chaired by Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif, will hold consultations on the canal matter in light of the Council of Common Interests (CCI) decision. Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar and Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar will attend the meeting.

Sources said that officials from the Ministry of Water Resources will participate in the scheduled meeting on the canal issue. The Federal Minister for Planning, the Minister for Economic Affairs, and the Attorney General have also been invited.

It is worth noting that the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) had expressed serious reservations over the issue of new canals. Last year, under the chairmanship of the Prime Minister, the CCI had halted the construction of canals. The federal government had decided not to build any new canal without consensus.

At that time, it was decided that no new canals would be constructed without mutual agreement through the CCI, and that the federal government would not move forward until consensus among the provinces was achieved.

The six strategically important canals include the Thar Canal, Rainee Canal, and Cholistan Canal, as well as the Greater Thar Canal, Kachhi Canal, and Chashma Right Bank Canal. The President was briefed on the need for the simultaneous construction of these canals.

The construction of these canals was declared essential for increasing the country’s food security and promoting agricultural development.