KARACHI:The Supreme Court on Saturday observed that people in power are responsible for the situation being faced by the country and they caused losses to the country instead of any common citizen.
Hearing identical petitions filed against environmental pollution in the city harbour and coastal areas being poisoned due to discharge of industrial effluents, Supreme Court’s five-member bench headed by Chief Justice Mian Saqib Nisar said he does not care if a campaign has been launched against him for visiting the Mayo Hospital in Lahore as he does not want to become a leader but only wants to ensure the enforcement of the fundamental rights of citizens.
The Chief Justice observed that provision of safe drinking water is an issue affecting the entire country and the court will pay attention over the issue whether it is in Punjab or Sindh. The court asked the Sindh chief secretary to give a time frame for the completion of these projects as the government will have to be complete them prior to the elections.
The court observed that the court will ensure the enforcement of fundamental rights. The court observed that it is the duty of the state to provide healthy life to its citizens and the judiciary will not compromise on the right to life and property of the citizens guaranteed under the Constitution and by doing so the court was not going beyond its ambit.
The court observed that industrial, municipal and hospital waste are being discharged into canals, rivers due to which the people are exposed to several serious diseases including Hepatitis-C. The court observed that the Sindh chief minister has not given any time frame for the completion of the delayed water and sewerage projects in the city.
The bench observed that it is the responsibility of the executive to ensure provision of pure drinking water and safe environment but when they fail to discharge their responsibilities the judiciary comes to fill the vacuum. The court observed that the judiciary will assist the provincial government if there are financial hurdles with the federal government.
The chief justice observed that the government has to give results within a month and the chief minister and the chief secretary of the province will be held responsible if the water and sewerage projects are not completed on time.
The court observed that the Sindh Chief Minister had told the court that the government could not perform due to stay orders by the court on appointment and transfer of government officers.
The court observed that it will vacate all the stay orders and directed the Chief Secretary to appoint officers of his choice.
The court observed that people are forced to buy water tankers because of lack of supply of water through pipe lines. The chief justice took exception over the statement of MD Karachi Water and Sewerage Board that additional water supply schemes and sewerage projects will be completed within next three years. The court observed that these projects have to be completed within six months.
The court asked KWSB’s chief as why the outdated water pipelines were not upgraded despite lapse of several years. The court observed that judiciary will not overlook negligence in the projects and ordered their audit through independent auditors to fix the responsibility.
Justice Faisal Arab took notice of non-utilization of funds allocated for the sewerage projects in the last several years and inquired the chief secretary as to where Rs.500 million allocated for S-III project were utilised. The court observed that due to delay, the estimated cost of the project increased from Rs. 8 billion to Rs.48 billion.
The court also took notice over non-compliance of the undertaking given by the project director of S-III regarding timeline for completion of the project and asked him why contempt of court proceedings may not be initiated against him.
Project director Imtiaz Ahmed submitted that the government issued him Rs.110 million only instead of Rs.48 billion to complete the treatment plants. Chief Secretary Rizwan Memon filed a detailed report highlighting projects planned for disposal of industrial and municipal waste. Besides, the chief secretary and the managing director KWSB Syed Hashim Raza Zaidi gave an overall view of the efforts being made to increase the water supply to Karachi from 650MGD to 910 MGD.
The MD KWSB could not give definite time frame for completion of the K-IV project and for the removal of illegal water connections from the main water supply lines. The court directed the Chief Secretary to submit definite time line for completion of K-IV project and for removal of all illegal water connections. The chief secretary also sought 44 months time for completion of S- III project.
The court directed the Chief Secretary to ensure that the treatment plant is made functional to its full capacity of 100 MGD and submit completion plan along with time limit on the next hearing. Regarding provision of funds for completion of projects from the federal government, the court directed attorney general to appraise the prime minister about the court proceedings and ensure early release of funds.
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