LAHORE, Aug 1: A Supreme Court full bench on Tuesday directed the Faisalabad district nazim and other top officials to submit a comprehensive report as to what measures the city district government was taking to ensure the supply of clean drinking water in the city.

Comprising Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry, Justice Syed Tasaddaq Husain Jilani and Justice Karamat Nazir Bhandari, the bench also issued notices to the Punjab advocate-general, the district nazim, the district coordination officer, director-general, Faisalabad Development Authority, and Wasa managing-director, seeking an explaination as to what steps they were taking to ensure clean water supply to the city residents in general, and Ghulam Mohammadabad in particular, where contaminated water had claimed 10 lives in June this year.

Taking suo moto notice of the deaths, the apex court felt dissatisfied with the report submitted by the DCO that all the water-supply pipes in Ghulam Mohammadabad had been replaced with new ones, and that four employees held responsible for the situation leading to the deaths were suspended from the service. He also stated that the deceased persons’ families were given Rs200,000 each, and the affected people were given Rs5,000 each as compensation.

The court expressed dissatisfaction over the steps taken and observed that the amount given in compensation was too meager to satisfy the affected families.

The court directed the district nazim and other officers to submit reports to the satisfaction of all concerned. The court adjourned further hearing in the case till the fist week of October when the case will be taken up in Islamabad.