KARACHI: SHC asks KWSB why 18 new hydrants still not operational
By Shujaat Ali Khan
KARACHI, March 25: The Sindh High Court asked the Karachi Water and Sewerage Board on Tuesday to explain on April 9 why the 18 new hydrants installed by the city district government in the peripheral areas of the city could not be made operational.
The issue came up before a division bench comprising Justices Yasmin Abbasy and Nadeem Azhar Siddiqui when the KWSB counsel, Tasawwur Ali, stated that 18 new hydrants had been installed in 18 towns for water supply. Among them is a hydrant laid at Manzoor Colony near the Defence Housing Authority to replace the Muslimabad hydrant, which is located in a residential area also housing a church, a school for handicapped children and a girls school as alleged by a petitioner, Mrs Ruth Sami Ahmed, an old resident of the area.
The petitioner’s counsel, Syed Sami Ahmed, said all the respondents, including the city district government, the KWSB, the Rangers, agree with the need to shift the Muslimabad hydrant but it was not being shifted despite a court order and warning that non-compliance with it would lead to contempt proceedings. He recalled a division bench had given the respondents four months to shift the hydrants or face contempt proceedings as far back as April 2007. The water board continued to seek extensions until March 18 when a division bench finally ordered shifting within two days.
The KWSB sought still more time to comply with the court order as the petition came up for hearing on Tuesday. The board said though 18 new hydrants had been installed, they were yet to be made operational. One reason was that they were located near shanty towns where heavy water tanker traffic would endanger the lives of children playing around pipelines.
The bench pointed out that a threat to the life and limb of residents in a congested area was the main reason the petitioner pressed for shifting of the Muslimabad hydrant. It summoned the KWSB coordinator for water tankers and hydrants, Misbahuddin Fareed, to appear on April 9 along with record and explain how and when the new hydrants could be made operational.
PIA reply
The Pakistan International Airlines stated on Tuesday that it has decided to ground the entire fleet of Boeing 747s and replace them with Boeing 777s for reasons of economy. The flight engineers attached to the fleet were no longer required and no mala fides were involved in the termination of 80 such engineers. In a rejoinder submitted by Advocate Makhdoom Ali Khan to contest the suit instituted by four of the dismissed flight engineers, the defendant PIA management said the airline was striving to cut its losses and the operation of the Boeing 747 fleet was found uneconomical.
Justice Ghulam Dastgir Shahani brought the PIA reply on record and adjourned further hearing to April 9. The interim injunction granted by Justice Khwaja Naveed Ahmed would continue till that date. Advocate Khalid Jawaid Khan appeared for the plaintiffs.
CM’s advisers
The division consisting of Justices Yasmin Abbasy and N.A. Siddiqui, meanwhile, dismissed as infructuous a petition moved by Advocate Munir Ahmed Chandio against the appointment of 26 advisers by former Sindh chief minister Dr Arbab Ghulam Rahim. The petitioner submitted through Advocate Abdul Waheed Katpar that there was no provision in the Constitution for appointment of advisers to the chief minister. Only the prime minister was entitled to have five advisers vide Article 93 of the Constitution. He requested the court to issue a writ of quo warranto against the 26 advisers.
Additional Advocate-General Fareed Ahmed Dayo submitted that the respondent advisers have since ceased to hold offices and the petition has become infructuous. No enforceable direction could be issued in the petition. Advocate Katpar said the advisers were paid salaries and allowances from the public exchequer and they should be asked to refund the amount spent on them. Advocate Dayo said an infructuous petition could not sustain any such direction and the bench dismissed the petition as having become incapable of bearing fruit.
Milk prices
Another division bench comprising Justices Azizullah M. Memon and Arshad Noor Khan adjourned to April 2 a new petition moved by the Milk Retailers Association against price fixation and punishment of violations by the city district government. Appearing for the petitioner association, Advocate Naeemur Rehman argued that the new retail price of Rs34 per litre had again been fixed by the city government without any consultation with the retailers or dairy farmers. The production cost has gone up further and it was not profitable to sell milk at Rs34 per litre. He said fines as high as Rs15,000 and Rs20,000 were being recovered from the offending retailers, though the law allowed a maximum fine of Rs10,000.
Advocate Manzoor Ahmed, the city government counsel, earlier submitted that the new price had been fixed in consultation with all the stakeholders in accordance with the court order. The city government, he said, also had to ensure the interest of the public and consumers. An inordinate increase in the price of milk would place the commodity out of the ordinary people’s reach. The government was taking all actions under the law and rules and the dairy farmers and milk sellers should realize the gravity of the situation.
Petition withdrawn
Defeated Pakistan People’s Party candidate Abdul Habib Memon, meanwhile, withdrew the petition moved by him to challenge the election of Muttahida Qaumi Movement’s Dr Farooq Sattar from NA-249 (Karachi). The bench disposed of the petition as withdrawn as requested by the petitioner’s counsel, Kamaluddin Azfar. Advocates Shoaib Bukhari and Saifullah appeared for the respondent MNA.
