Islamabad: According to The Express Tribune, the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) has completed the arrangements for a public rally against development projects on the Indus River that would take place on April 18 at Hyderabad’s Hattri Ground.

Senior PPP leader Faryal Talpur had a crucial meeting at her home to discuss preparations, the party statement said. PPP leaders went over the specific administrative and logistical arrangements for the rally in Hyderabad, which is anticipated to attract a sizable crowd, during the meeting. PPP chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari will lead the protest, which is scheduled to start at 6 p.m. on April 18.

Speaking to the attendees, Talpur referred to the gathering as a “public referendum” against Indus River development projects. The Indus is the “lifeline of Sindh”, she said, adding that the PPP is adamantly opposed to any move to divert its water, according to Pakistan’s The Express Tribune.

She issued a warning: “If the water of the Indus River is diverted, Sindh will become barren.” She said, “We reject any form of engineering on the river and demand that water distribution be carried out transparently, as per the 1991 agreement.”

According to The Express Tribune, Talpur said that Sindh’s citizens, particularly the younger generation, support PPP chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari in protecting the province’s water rights.

Senior Minister Sharjeel Inam Memon, Interior Minister Zia-ul-Hassan Lanjar, Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah, PPP Central Leader Makhdoom Jamil-uz-Zaman, PPP Sindh President Nisar Ahmed Khuhro, Provincial Ministers Ali Hassan Zardari and Muhammad Ali Malkani, and Special Assistant Qasim Naveed Qamar were among the notable PPP leaders who attended the meeting at Talpur’s home.

Rafiq Ahmed Jamali, Shafqat Shah Sherazi, Riaz Shah Sherazi, Sikandar Shoro, Sohail Anwar Sial, Pir Mujeeb, and Rawal Sharjeel Memon were among the other PPP leaders present at the meeting.

Amid public protest and significant objections in Sindh, Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz and Pakistan’s Chief of the Army Staff General Asim Munir launched the Cholistan project on February 15 to irrigate the lands in south Punjab, according to Dawn.

The federal government’s USD 3.3 billion Green Pakistan Initiative (GPI) to build six canals to irrigate 1.2 million acres of “barren land” in south Punjab has been met with opposition from the PPP, which controls Sindh, farmers, and other stakeholders.

Lawyers threatened to launch demonstrations against the federal government earlier this week if the proposed canal work in Cholistan was not halted within a week.