ISLAMABAD, Aug 26: The Network for Consumer Protection has criticized the Water and Sanitation Agency (Wasa) and Asian Development Bank's (ADB) plan to install water meters in Rawalpindi city at approximately 80,000 households.

A press release issued by the Network on Thursday said Wasa's plan to sell drinking water to 80,000 houses in Rawalpindi city was a violation of fundamental human rights enshrined in the Constitution.

Commenting on media reports regarding Wasa's plan to install water meters in the city, Dr Haroon Ibrahim, a spokesperson for The Network, said Wasa-Asian Development Bank's joint venture to provide water meters to 80,000 households in the city had already fizzled out. Under the first phase, Wasa was supposed to install meters at 20,000 households, but it could only cover 5,000 houses.