Vice President of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), Senator Sherry Rehman, has called for an immediate meeting of the Council of Common Interests (CCI) to address the alarming water crisis affecting three provinces, including Sindh, and to halt plans for controversial canal projects that she warned could deepen inter-provincial discord.
Speaking to the media outside Parliament House, Senator Rehman said “For the first time in a hundred years, the Indus River is facing a record decline in water flows. When the country is running dry, the government must explain where the water for these new canals will come from.”
Senator Rehman emphasized that the PPP leadership—including the Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari and President Asif Ali Zardari—has been consistently raising concerns about the construction of new canals on the Indus without consensus, calling it a matter of “life and death” for downstream communities.
“Water scarcity is not just Sindh’s problem—it is a national emergency that affects every citizen and livelihood,” she stressed. “Without water, our agriculture, livestock, and economy cannot function. We are demanding our constitutional and moral right to fair water distribution.”
Senator Rehman urged the government to move beyond temporary political settlements and address the core issue through institutional mechanisms. “The issue must be resolved in the CCI, not through backdoor negotiations. We must act now to avoid further damage to national unity.”
Senator Rehman underscored the situation in drought-hit districts like Badin, Thatta, and Sujawal, she warned of growing discontent among farmers and local communities. “If we are pushed to the wall, we will resist—peacefully, but firmly. The PPP knows how to stand its ground for the rights of the people. We only know one kind of politics. That which defends these basic rights and it is our responsibility to stand up for fundamentals like water rights.”
Senator Rehman also questioned the validity of recent IRSA reports and criticized the lack of transparency in water allocations. “No province’s share can be diverted unilaterally. That’s not cooperative federalism; that’s injustice.”
Concluding her remarks, she said: “Let’s resolve this urgently, with seriousness and dialogue—not drama. We hope that reason and the Constitution will prevail.”