HYDERABAD, July 26: A judge of the Sindh High Court, Hyderabad circuit bench, here on Monday directed the SP, investigation, Fareed Jan Sarhandi , to collect evidence against officials involved in the water contamination case so that they could be brought to book.

The judge, Justice Ghulam Rabbani, said officials who had acted lethargically would be taken to task. He directed police to submit an interim charge-sheet in the case. He said police should take full interest in the investigation as so many people had died after consuming contaminated water of the River Indus.

Advocate Raja Qureshi represented Ghulam Nabi Mughal, former chief engineer, Sukkur Barrage, and advocate Yousuf Leghari appeared on behalf of Ali Ahmad Lund, former director-general, Hyderabad Development Authority, and Dr Agha Tariq former EDO, health. They had been booked by the Market police on June 4.

Sindh additional advocate general Masood A. Noorani sought time to collect evidence against the nominated persons. He said statements of heirs of victims of polluted water and the medical superintendent of the Hyderabad Civil Hospital had been recorded by police under section 161, Cr.PC.

The secretary for health, Ashiq Hussain Memon, additional secretary for local bodies, Ghulam Arif Khan, and the additional secretary for irrigation, Khadim Ali Memon, attended the court.

The health secretary in his statement said during the water crisis, an emergency cell had been set up at the Liaquat University Hospital, Hyderabad, and people had been advised through media not to use contaminated water.

He claimed that 500,000 water purifying tablets, arranged through the National Institute of Health, Islamabad, had been distributed in affected areas. He further claimed that sufficient quantity of life saving drugs had been made available in government hospitals.

He said 5,524 patients of water-borne diseases had been brought to government hospitals in Hyderabad, Jamshoro and Kotri up to June 29 and 38 people had died of the diseases.

The additional secretary for local bodies informed the court that the Sindh government had constituted an inquiry committee on the issue. On recommendation of this committee, the government had formed two sub-committees - the district operation committee, headed by the district nazim and the provincial monitoring committee, headed by the additional chief secretary, local government.

He said the final report of the committee would be submitted before the court. The deputy secretary, irrigation and power department, Mohammad Iqbal Shaikh, also submitted an identical statement regarding constitution of an inquiry committee, headed by Ashfaq Memon, secretary for services and works.

The matter was adjourned till August 17. Justice Azizullah M. Memon had taken suo motu notice of the matter on June 29 after pre-arrest bails of officials were confirmed by the sixth additional district judge on June 25.