SINDH has risen against the federal government`s decision to build multiple canals on the Indus River for corporate farming. The street protests have practically turned into a mass uprising. The controversial project has united the province`s political forces and civil society.

Highway blockades have disrupted the transportation system. The situation does not seem to be in the control of the provincial administration anymore.

Under pressure, the PPP has toughened its stance on the issue, threatening to withdraw its support to the coalition government at the centre if the canal project is not scrapped. The Sindh Assembly passed a unanimous resolution rejecting the project that many fear will destroy the province`s ecology. The centre`s unilateral decision backed by the security establishment has pitted Sindh against the federal government.

However, there seems to be little realisation of the gravity of the situation in the corridors of power. The federal government has hardly made any effort to find a solution. If the matter is not resolved within the constitutional framework soon, it could threaten the federation`s unity.

What has complicated the situation is the role of the security establishment the main sponsor of the Green Pakistan Initiative (GPI), of which the canals are a part. It is believed that it`s beyond the civilian government to resolve the issue. The canal project is portrayed as a national security issue by the establishment.

It`s quite intriguing that the project was reportedly approved by the caretaker government. There is also a question of whether the caretaker administration, with its limited mandate, is constitutionally authorised to make such policy decisions that involve the federation.

However, it was also the responsibility of the new PML-N government to take the matter to the Council of Common Interests (CCI). But that never happened. The whole project was wrapped in secrecy.

The canal project controversy flared up when the army chief, along with Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz, inaugurated the GPI inCholistan in southern Punjab. The planned canals are supposed to irrigate the desert land in the area.The proponents ofthe project contend that the canals could transform Cholistan`s barren lands into productive farmland that would not only boost agricultural output but also modernise irrigation practices and generate new economic opportunities.

All that may be true, but the real issue is where the surplus water will come from, given that there is already a water shortage in the Indus. Sindh has long been complaining that it has not been receiving the full share of its apportioned quota of water from the Indus. The problem has become much more acute over the years with the shrinking water flow in the river.

In order to resolve inter-provincial water disputes, the Water Accord of 1991 had apportioned specific shares of water to the provinces.

Following the accord, the Indus River System Authority was created in 1992. Irsa is a constitutional body responsible for regulating and monitoring the distribution of water resources of the Indus system among the provinces as mandated by the 1991 accord.

Unfortunately, Irsa`s composition has become disputed in recent years, intensifying the interprovincial conflict over the division of Indus water. The unilateral decision on the Cholistan canal project has made the situation extremely volatile. One wonders why the federal government has not shown willingness to discuss such a politically sensitive issue at the CCI. The statements made by some federal ministers that the canal project is Punjab`s provincial matter and does not need to be discussed at the CCI have made things worse.

The sentiment that the proposed new canals on the Indus are trampling on Sindh`s rights is not without reason. It`s not just an ecological and rights issue but also a politically emotional matter for Sindh, and one which is fanning nationalist sentiments. It has exposed the fault lines within an establishment-dominated political system that has led to the centralisation of power weakening the federal structure. Such unilat-eral de cisions by the federal government and the security establishment have also increased the pressure on the PPP, which is struggling to maintain its credentials as a federal party.

Some federal ministers claim that the project was approved by President Asif Ali Zardari last year. The report is denied by the PPP. The president also categorically rejected the canal project this year in his annual address to the joint session of parliament.

Yet the controversy refuses to die. There has also been criticism of the PPP government for not taking up the issue with the federal government earlier. It was only when the Sindhi nationalist parties took the lead in bringing the public out on the streets that the PPP broke its silence.

It`s a moment of reckoning for the party which has ruled the province uninterruptedly for the past 16 years. If the issue is not resolved, the party will have no choice but to pull out its support for the coalition government at the centre.

With anger in Sindh increasing, the PML-N has belatedly called for negotiations with the PPP to find a way out of the crisis. The first meeting between the two parties took place recently, and the PML-N leaders said that the canal project would only be implemented after reaching a consensus.

But given the widening divide it seems increasingly difficult now to reach a consensus on an initiative that should not have been undertaken at all. These are extremely testing times for the federation with the situation in the other provinces, KP and Balochistan, also tense.

While Balochistan is in the throes of an insurgency, the increasing tension between the provincial government in KP and Islamabad has further strained the federation. The increasingly centralised decision-making and the growing shadow of the establishment over all aspects of the power spectrum threatens the unity of the federation. • The writer is an author and joumalist.

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