Centre appoints Sindh nominee as Irsa member for three years

ISLAMABAD: The federal government on Monday appointed Sindh government nominee Shafquat Hussain Wadho as a member of the Indus River System Authority (Irsa) for a three-year term.

Wadho, a retired grade-20 chief engineer, has replaced Ehsanul Haq Leghari, whose premature resignation was accepted by the federal government. Leghari had submitted his resignation in November last year, but he was asked to continue until a replacement was named.

According to the development, the Sindh government had proposed Wadho’s name in January, but the nomination had not been cleared by the federal cabinet at that stage. A notification issued on Monday accepted Leghari’s resignation with effect from May 6 and directed the Sindh irrigation secretary to serve as Irsa member for Sindh until the appointment of a regular member.

Under Section 4(7) of the Irsa Act, the provincial irrigation secretary can act as Irsa member on behalf of the respective province.

In a separate notification issued the same day, the Ministry of Water Resources appointed Wadho as a regular member for three years from the date he assumes charge of the office.

The ministry had been holding Sindh’s recommendation for Wadho’s appointment since April 1, 2026. Leghari had resigned on Nov 19, 2025, after joining the Sindh government’s Planning and Development Department as member (water), but the Ministry of Water Resources did not accept his resignation for nearly six months.

Federal member issue remains unresolved

Sindh has also continued to object to the appointment of the federal member in Irsa, maintaining that the slot should likewise be filled by an officer domiciled in Sindh, in line with a decision taken during the government of Gen Pervez Musharraf.

According to Sindh’s position, no Sindh-domiciled federal member has been appointed to Irsa for the past 16 years, and the office has generally been held by Punjab-domiciled officers despite an arrangement requiring the appointment to be made from Sindh.

Bashir Ahmed Dahar was the last federal member from Sindh. He served from Oct 2007 to Oct 2010 under a July 10, 2000 executive order issued during the Gen Musharraf era, which made it mandatory to appoint a federal member from Sindh.

According to Sindh, that executive order was protected under Article 270-AA of the Constitution.

The tenure of the last federal member, Asjad Imtiaz, ended in December 2025. After that, Federal Flood Commission Chairman Athar Hameed was allowed to act as federal member by virtue of his office.