Though the controversy over the six canals downstream of Kalabagh, based on a water availability certificate issued by IRSA, erupted in July 2024 when WAPDA surreptitiously obtained the approval of President Asif Ali Zardari by convincing him of the availability of water in the system, the project per se is an old one and dates back to the Musharraf era. It included the Jhelum Right Bank and Thal canals and the Rainee Flood Feeder. Two more canals, Thar and Cholistan, were added to the project. The Thar Canal will feed Tharparkar in Sindh. Interestingly, Sindh has already rejected it, terming it a camouflage for other canals.

These four canals have a command area of over 6 million acres. They would take over 40,000 cusecs of water directly from the River Indus between Kalabagh and Taunsa Barrage, irrespective of the season. We may note that the canals of Sindh off-taking from Guddu (3) and Sukkur Barrages (7) usually face a collective water scarcity of over 19.5%, or some 120,000 cusecs, except during flood seasons. The commissioning of the above canals will further adversely affect Sindh's share of water flowing over 400 kilometres from Taunsa Barrage to Guddu, with seepage into the Taunsa Flood Canal, evaporation and pilferage by local landlords adding to the losses.

The Punjab establishment, in collaboration with WAPDA, has taken up another old project involving the construction of four water reservoirs: two on the Chenab River at Mid Ranjha and Chiniot, and two on the Sutlej River at Bahawalnagar and Hasilpur. These reservoirs would be utilised to irrigate huge tracts of Cholistan's land as part of the Green........

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