That a major project had been given a go-ahead without a consensus among the various stakeholders was bound to come back haunting. The six-canal project - the lifeline for the Green Pakistan Initiative that is meant to ensure food security in the country through corporate farming, besides earning much-needed foreign exchange via export of surplus food - has been paused in line with the decision taken at a meeting of the Council of Common Interest held on Monday.
As agreed at the constitutional forum, tasked with resolving power-sharing disputes between the provinces, the project will remain halted till the time "mutual understanding is evolved among the provinces". A committee, with representation from the federation and all federating units, will also be constituted to pursue a consensus by allaying the concerns of all provinces alongside ensuring the country's food and ecological security.
The decisions taken by the CCI means clam in Sindh where civil society, political parties and nationalist groups were up in arms against the decision to construct six canals to irrigate the barren lands of Cholistan in Punjab as part of the Green Pakistan Initiative, calling it infringement on the rights of low riparian segments of the populace.
Divisive though it is, the high-profile project with global reach promises a roadmap to genuine development and significant foreign exchange inflow for a country long mired in a serious balance of payments crisis. But with a major collation partner, the PPP, in aversion, it's a catch-22 situation for the PML-led ruling dispensation. So while a good initiative — currently held in abeyance — risks becoming another Kalabagh dam project, the decisions to be taken at the next round of debate should reflect the supreme national interest.
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