Karachi (Staff Reporter)
The province-wide strike called by the Sindh Bar Council entered its second day today as lawyers continued to shut down courts across Sindh in protest against the disputed canal schemes. All entry gates of the Sindh High Court’s main building were locked by the bar council, preventing litigants and court staff from entering. The central gates of the City Court were similarly sealed.

Meanwhile, the sit-in at Baberlo Bypass in Sukkur entered its seventh day, where bar council leaders reiterated their demand that the contested canal projects be scrapped immediately. In Khairpur, lawyers blocked the national highway for the sixth consecutive day, halting traffic in both directions.

Lawyers argue that the new canals being constructed in Punjab will reduce Sindh’s share of the Indus waters, critically endangering agricultural productivity and public welfare. The federal and Punjab governments, however, maintain that the issue is being politicized. They point out that the existing Water Apportionment Accord and the Indus River System Authority (IRSA) Act legally prevent any province from encroaching on another’s water allocation.

PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari and Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah have warned the federal government that, if the contentious canal projects are not withdrawn, Sindh will have no option but to pursue every political and legal recourse, including separating its stance from the federation. The Sindh Bar Council has vowed to keep the courts shut until the projects are officially canceled.

This escalating dispute has raised political tensions in the province and stirred public concern over the future of Sindh’s agrarian economy, prompting calls for an urgent and substantive resolution to safeguard the region’s water security.