KARACHI: The Sindh High Court on Tuesday came down hard on the Cantonment Board Clifton (CBC) and the Defence Housing Authority (DHA) for not filing compliance reports over release of sewage and dumping of waste into the sea.

A two-judge bench headed by Justice Aftab Ahmed Gorar granted last chance to the CBC and DHA to file comprehensive reports till Feb 10 and warned that in case of failure, an appropriate order would be passed against delinquent officers.

The lawyer for the CBC filed a statement along with some pictures and submitted that a treatment plant to be set up to treat raw sewage before its release into the sea.

The World Wide Fund for Nature and some other non-governmental organisations had petitioned the SHC in 2017 against dumping of sewage and industrial waste into the sea.

A lawyer says a treatment plant will soon be set up

The petitioners had informed the bench that the sea was being polluted by the sewage at Seaview near the chunky monkey amusement park and a fast food outlet.

In October, 2019 the bench had said that in order to ascertain the ground reality, a notice was issued to the DHA with direction to depute a senior officer to appear before it along with approved building plan of both the buildings after the CBC lawyer had stated that the building plans of the amusement park and fast food outlet had been approved and issued by the DHA.

At the outset, the bench recalled that in September last year, the SHC had directed the CBC and DHA officials to file reports. However, today neither any report was filed nor they were in attendance in compliance with the court’s order, it added.

The lawyer for CBC once again requested the bench for more time to file the report and the bench said that time was being allowed as a last chance.

On a previous hearing, the bench had also directed the sanitation branch of the CBC to file comments regarding release of raw sewage and dumping of industrial waste into the sea.

Published in Dawn, December 22nd, 2021