HYDERABAD/ LARKANA: Sindh Senior Minister Sharjeel Inam Memon has appealed to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to intervene and announce shelving of the canal project on the River Indus even if there is some movement on papers in the best interest of the country and unity among its people.

The Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) was against the new canals over Indus and would remain so till death, he claimed while speaking to journalists at his residence in Tandojam after offering Eidul Fitr prayer on Monday. He said that so far no canal had been approved because there was a forum for that purpose and no individual could approve it.

`No canals will be built; we will not let thembuilt,` he remarked.

He said Sindh was currently facing 50pc water shortage and there had been floods only once or twice in a decade as routine irrigation water remained the only source in the rest of the period.

He said the president did not have any authority to approve or disapprove any project, but in his address to a joint session of parliament, which was the highest forum, he had clearly stated that he could not support such plan.

`We therefore appeal to the prime minister to intervene and announce shelving of canal project even if there is some movementonpapersforit-forPakistan`s progress and unity and to end unrest among people,` he said.

He added that the PPP understood that without approval from the Council of Common Interests (CCI), that project could not get underway. `If the PM makes such announcement officially, we will be grateful to him as this will augur well forthe country,` he said. He said the PPP was supporting and not dictating the government for the continuity of democratic process.

He said the CM had written around 15 letters to the CCI in that regard. Since it was a burning issue, the PPP chairman might announce some strategy regarding it in his April speech on the death anniversary of Z.A. Bhutto in Garhi Khuda Bux, he added.

About dumper related deaths, he said that driving license were issued after stricter compliance, but some drivers were found to have licenses obtained in other provinces.

He observed the people in Karachi did not prefer pedestrian bridges and cross road in haste. Observing that every single life was precious, he stated that truck drivers and motorcyclists both showed haste.

The senior minister said some elements tried to capitalise on those incidents to resurrect their politics that had died down long ago. He advised those people to opt for positive politics and avoid politics over bodies. That jalao gherao politics must end, he observed.

He also felicitated interned PTI leader Imran Khan on Eid day and hoped that he would pursue positive politics whenever he came out of prison.

About the Maulana Fazl`s movement, he said anyone intended to launch movement had his constitutional right.

No compromise on water: Chandio A former senator of the PPP, Maula Bux Chandio, has said that water issue was a matter of life and death for Sindh and no compromise could be made on it.

Talking to journalists after offering Eid prayers in Qasimabad on Monday, he saidSindh must get its share of water under Water Accord 1991, which was accepted under compulsion. He said it would not augur well for the country if six canals were built by force and Sindh would not accept that decision.

He said only upper riparian was happy as it got plenty of water but in the rest of the world, lower riparian had the first right over water.

Protests after Eid prayers Activists of Save Indus River Movement, an alliance of mainly nationalist parties, and their supporters took to the streets after offering Eid prayers across the province and staged marches and rallies against federal government`s plans for the construction of six `strategic` canals on the Indus River.

In Larkana, a large number of people, waving flags and placards and chanting slogans of `no more canals on Indus` staged a march in Naudero.

Former central convener of the Movement for Restoration of Democracy, Hussain Bakhsh Narejo and others marched from Phulpota village and reached Burira Ferry point on Indus where Zulfikar Ali Bhutto Junior and Inayat Umrani of PPP-Shaheed Bhutto joined them. The protesters threw rose petals into the river and raised slogans.

Addressing the marchers, Mr Bhutto feared if the canals were constructed, it would not only drastically hit peoples` lives but also affect eco system and agriculture.

He urged not to divide Indus `which is our common asset` and warned if the river was tampered with it would culminateinto a disaster.

Without naming PPP, he said they [rulers] had sold out mountains, islands andfarmland but people would resist every move tooth and nail. He warned of staging sit-in in Islamabad if need be.

Narejo said the rulers` dreams would not be allowed to be materialised, as people had now awakened to the gravity of the situation.

A large number of lawyers led by Athar Abbas Solangi, president of High Court Bar Association, visited Indus at LarkanaKhairpur Bridge on Eid day and threw rose petals into it to mark renewal of their pledge that they would stand unshaken against the construction ofcanals.

Solangi warned government to roll back the plan and announced formulating strategy on April 4 to protest.

Workers of Sindh United Party, Sindh Taraqqi-pasand Party, Human Peace Movement, students of Shaheed Benazir Bhutto Law College and social workers demonstrated outside local press club and repeated the demand for a halt to the canals project.

In Badin, hundreds of people took to the streets after offering Eid prayers and staged rallies against canals.

Activists of Save Indus River Movement recorded the protest by tying fishing nets to sheep. The protesters` leaders Atta Chandio, Prof Abdullah Mallah and others said as others were celebrating Eid, Sindhis were staging rallies after Eid prayers to protest against canals.

They demanded the federal government immediately cancel the project, otherwise people of Sindh would not leave any stone unturned to save the Indus.

Similar protests were held in Kadhan, Talhar, Tando Bago, Golarchi and Badin.

Members of Pakistan Fisherfolk Forum and Tail-End Farmers Association staged a three-kilometre foot march in Badin which terminated into a sit-in at the town`s main chowk.