PESHAWAR: A Peshawar High Court bench on Tuesday expressed annoyance at the abandoning of the plan of establishing a sewage treatment plant on the land acquired for the purpose over two decades ago and directed the provincial government to explain why it has taken such a decision on political grounds.

Justice Qaiser Rasheed Khan and Justice Mohammad Younas Taheem ordered the provincial chief secretary to appear in person on Nov 21 to inform the court about the government’s viewpoint on the issue.

The bench directed additional advocate general Syed Sikandar Shah to ensure that the chief secretary appear in person as it was a serious matter and health of hundreds of thousands of people had been affected due to the dumping of solid waste in the area without any management.

The bench was hearing a petition filed by lawyer Malik Misraf, who has challenged the non-setting up of the sewage treatment plant by the government despite many years of acquiring vast piece of land along the Peshawar Ring Road and continuous dumping of solid waste and putting it on fire in the area.

Lawyer claims a minister, some MPAs pressured CM on the matter

The petitioner claimed that the practice of putting fire to solid wastes had been spreading numerous diseases in the localities situated nearby the dumping site.

Chief executive of the Water and Sanitation Services Peshawar Khan Zaib appeared in person along with his lawyer, Atif Ali Khan.

They said the WSSP had finalised arrangements for setting up of the plant but they received directions from the government not to establish the same in that area.

The petitioner said on Sept 21, the chief minister had issued directives to the WSSP not to establish the said plant in that area.

He alleged that a provincial minister and some local MPAs had opposed the government move and pressured the chief minister for not setting up the plant there.

The petitioner said the land for the said project was acquired in 1992 and the issue continued lingering on till date.

Justice Qaiser Rasheed observed that it was sorry state of affair on part of the executive as because of political motives it had not been taking the issue seriously.

He added that the court would not tolerate any sort of political interference in projects aimed at improving environment and checking environmental degradation.

The petitioner has also provided to the court the photographs showing a huge quantity of solid wastes dumped in Afridi Garhi area near Ring Road.

He told the bench that different entities including hospitals, Town-I Administration, WSSP and others were dumping solid waste in the area and thus, endangering the life of hundreds of thousands of people, including his and his family’s.

The petitioner said the local government department had acquired the land for setting up of sewage treatment plant but it had been turned into a waste dumping site.

He claimed that different departments were throwing huge quantity of garbage, surgical materials, including intoxicating and hazardous materials, which released toxic gases.

The petitioner said the act of the respondents while dumping different surgical materials within the limits of Town-1, a thickly populated area, was against the law, Constitution, public health policies and universally recognised fundamental rights of the citizens.

Published in Dawn, November 1st, 2017