Pakistan, April 24 -- The Cholistan Canal is currently framed as an agricultural off-take-designed to release 4,100 cusecs of monsoon floodwater for six months into Punjab's southeastern desert, traditionally treated as marginal land. The canal has already triggered controversy, especially from Sindh, the lower riparian province, which fears further depletion of Indus flows. But a more compelling question remains overlooked: Can the Cholistan Canal be repurposed not just for agriculture, but as a national model for climate-smart, aquifer-based land revival that serves both people and nature-while freeing up water for the Indus Delta?

This debate must begin with the Hakra River Basin, which once ran through Cholistan. Stretching around 15...