KARACHI: Environmental protection Govt fails to make tribunal operative
By Mukhtar Alam
KARACHI, April 17: Millions of rupees spent so far on account of salaries and buildings appear to have gone down the drain, as the federal government, despite a lapse of over five years, has been unable to make an environmental protection tribunal (EPT) operational in Karachi, especially when incidents of pollution and degradation are on the rise unabated.
The Karachi tribunal meant for the Sindh-Balochistan region was notified by the Ministry of Law and Justice and Human Rights in October 1999. A similar tribunal notified at the same time in Lahore has already started hearing cases of environmental violations.
Concerned quarters, who believe that cases of violation could be instituted almost daily in the megapolis, are of the view that limping advancement observed so far in the case of the tribunal spoke a lot about the lack of government commitment towards elimination of air and noise pollution, besides checking other environmental destruction.
Polluters under the rules are required to pay if they violate the provisions of the Pakistan Environmental Protection Act (PEPA), 1997.
Investigations revealed that Justice (Retd) Syed Abdur Rehman was appointed the first chairman of the EPT, who could only hold one staff meeting of the body in December 1999. He was followed by another chairman – a senior special judge – who held the tribunal’s second meeting in October 2000.
However, neither was any case referred to the EPT nor did it take any suo motu action on environmental issues during the period in question, insiders said, adding that the state of inactivity of the tribunal was so plain that no signboard of its offices was found in the city.
In 2001, an establishment of about 16 staff was finalized for the tribunal; a registrar was also appointed. However, in the absence of a separate building, the tribunal’s launch remained impossible, added the source. It was only a couple of years back that a premises – two storey building – was selected and hired by the law ministry, it was said.
The tribunal’s offices are still due to be set up on the ground floor of the residential building, situated in the commercial avenue of DHA Phase-4.
Staff re-appropriated from various offices and wings of the law and justice ministry find it unnecessary to go to office everyday in the absence of any work schedule and office environment.
According to a conservative estimate, the federal government is spending about Rs0.35 million per month on salaries, allowances and utilities for the Karachi tribunal, but on the other hand it was failing to nominate or appoint key officials without whom the body cannot be made functional, in line with the environmental protection act of 1997 or rules and regulations made thereunder.
About seven months back, the government appointed two persons from outside Karachi as member legal and member technical separately, but the persons did not show up. The tribunal’s registrar, appointed in 2001, is also not at the tribunal’s disposal from about three years, it was learnt.
When contacted over telephone, the chairman of the Karachi tribunal, Nabi Bux Talpur, a former district and session judge of Sanghar, said he had been writing to the law ministry since the last 10 months – after his appointment – in regard to problems and the tribunal’s activation, but a breakthrough was still awaited.
Under legal provisions, the chairman of the environment tribunal can hear a case only in the presence of at least one of the two notified members. “In a situation when both posts of legal and technical members are lying vacant, and where I cannot operate alone, I have sought clarification and advice about my role then,” said the chairman.
To another question, he said the registrar was also unavailable with him and he did not know whether a lady appointed earlier on the said post had been transferred or sent on deputation to Islamabad.
