Islamabad [Pakistan], April 15 (ANI): The Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) has finalised preparations for a public gathering set to be held at Hyderabad's Hattri Ground on April 18 against development projects on the Indus River, The Express Tribune reported.

According to the party statement, senior PPP leader Faryal Talpur reviewed preparations during a key meeting at her residence. During the meeting, PPP leaders reviewed detailed logistical and administrative preparations for the rally in Hyderabad, which is expected to draw a large number of participants. The rally will begin on April 18 at 6 pm, under the leadership of PPP chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari.

Addressing the participants at the meeting, Talpur called the event a 'public referendum' against development projects on the Indus River. She expressed PPP's firm stance against any attempt to divert the river's water, describing the Indus as the 'lifeline of Sindh,' The Express Tribune reported.

She warned, 'If the water of the Indus River is diverted, Sindh will become barren.' She stated, 'We reject any form of engineering on the river and demand that water distribution be carried out transparently, as per the 1991 agreement.'

Talpur said that the people of Sindh, especially the youth, stand united with PPP chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari in defending the province's water rights, The Express Tribune reported.

A number of prominent PPP leaders, including Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah, PPP Central Leader Makhdoom Jamil-uz-Zaman, PPP Sindh President Nisar Ahmed Khuhro, Senior Minister Sharjeel Inam Memon, Interior Minister Zia-ul-Hassan Lanjar, Provincial Ministers Ali Hassan Zardari and Muhammad Ali Malkani, and Special Assistant Qasim Naveed Qamar, attended the meeting at Talpur's residence.

Other leaders of the PPP who attended the meeting included Rafiq Ahmed Jamali, Shafqat Shah Sherazi, Riaz Shah Sherazi, Sikandar Shoro, Sohail Anwar Sial, Pir Mujeeb, and Rawal Sharjeel Memon.

On February 15, Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz and Pakistan's Chief of the Army Staff General Asim Munir inaugurated the Cholistan project to irrigate south Punjab's lands amid public outcry and strong reservations in Sindh, Dawn reported.

The PPP, which is in power in Sindh, farmers and other stakeholders have opposed the Green Pakistan Initiative (GPI), worth USD 3.3 billion, launched by the federal government to construct six canals to irrigate 1.2 million acres of 'barren land' in south Punjab.

Earlier this week, lawyers warned the federal government that they would begin protests if the planned development of canals in Cholistan was not stopped within a week. (ANI)