KARACHI: The Supreme Court-mandated commission on water and sanitation dismissed on Monday an application seeking permission for Sunday bazaars on the Malir River banks and observed that there was no provision in the law to grant such permission.

The commission, headed by former apex court judge Justice Amir Hani Muslim, observed that permission of this nature could not be granted for multifarious reasons, while such permission had no sanction of law.

The proposal of the applicants could not be accepted as activities of this nature within the storm-water drains, whether temporary or otherwise, would definitely interrupt and obstruct these drains, the commission added.

It further said: “The entire nullahs of Karachi city have been encroached and obstructed in a manner that initially temporary permission was accorded which transformed into permanent structures”.

The commission, formed to implement the apex court orders regarding the provision of potable water and improving the worsening sanitation conditions in Sindh, said that the people of the provincial metropolis might suffer during the rainy season as these nullahs could not be cleaned because of encroachments and permanent structures.

Referring to a contention of the applicants’ counsel, the commission ruled that even the Malir River banks could not be encroached upon under the relevant law applicable to such drains.

The permission to run a Sunday bazaar in the Malir River near Qayyumabad was accorded by a former deputy commissioner of Korangi. However, it was withdrawn on the intervention of the commission in February.

At a previous hearing, Barrister Salahuddin Ahmed, counsel for the applicants, through an application asked the commission to modify its earlier order about banning Sunday bazaars on the bank of the Malir River.

The counsel submitted that the applicants could only be permitted to erect temporary stalls for holding a market on Sunday morning at the site and the same would be completely removed in the evening, adding that permission be granted on terms and conditions the commission might describe.

Treatment plant at Kotri

The commission observed that the inspection of the spot was necessary for taking a decision to install a combined effluent treatment plant at the Sindh Industrial Trading Estate (SITE) in Kotri.

It also directed the chairman of the task force to seek advice of NED University’s professors on the issue, adding that tentatively these professors would be visiting Kotri on May 9.

The commission will also visit SITE, Kotri, on Tuesday (today) and it directed the secretary for industries, the director general of the Sindh Environmental Protection Agency, the managing director of SITE and other officials concerned to ensure their presence at the proposed site.

Moreover, the commission directed the education secretary to submit an exclusive list of the schools where progress was being made regarding supply of potable water and sanitation within three days.

Published in Dawn, May 8th, 2018