HYDERABAD: The judicial commission formed by the Supreme Court has said that it will not like to get confused in statistics and jugglery of words but intends to hold accountability of and fix responsibility on those who are responsible for wastage of public money in water and sewerage projects.
The one-man commission comprising Justice Mohammad Iqbal Kalhoro of the Sindh High Court has been assigned the task of inspecting civic conditions, including sanitation and cleanliness, water supply and drainage installations and also check the quality of potable water being supplied to consumers in different parts of Sindh. The SC formed the commission while hearing a petition filed by Advocate Shahab Usto drawing the apex court’s attention to the crumbling civic infrastructure and poor quality of water being supplied to people in the province.
Justice Kalhoro arrived in Hyderabad on Thursday and visited various water supply and sewerage installations besides meeting senior officials concerned. He expressed his displeasure over officials making confusing statements regarding certain projects and facilities.
“Where has the [public] money gone? I am least bothered what PC-I and PC-II are all about and just want to know who is responsible if government agencies are not working and if the Water and Sanitation Agency (Wasa) is not performing,” he remarked while interacting with officials. He made it clear that he would not just record statements and submit them to the apex court but “will even hold the entire government of Sindh responsible if you [officers] keep confusing the commission with statistics of this or that project.”
Rejecting several arguments and excuses by the officials, Justice Kalhoro said: “If Wasa is overstaffed, who is responsible for that; and who was supervising it? Our children have to live in these cities. It is not A against B-type proceedings. Unless officers are held accountable or responsibility is fixed, the situation won’t improve.”
A large number of officials of irrigation department, Sindh Environmental Protection Agency (Sepa) and Wasa, as well as the commissioner, deputy commissioner and municipal commissioner of Hyderabad were present in the court-IV where the judicial commission held its proceedings.
Advocate Usto informed the commission that water treatment plants in Hyderabad were not working while entire municipal and domestic waste was released into the Phulelli canal [a freshwater body] of the Kotri barrage. Hospital waste dumped along with municipal waste also goes into the canal, according to him.
Commissioner Qazi Shahid Pervez in his detailed statement admitted that untreated wastewater was released into the canal. He said that against the city’s requirement of 120mgd (million gallons per day) 60mgd of filtered water was provided by Wasa, 30mgd was received from the new filter plant and 10mgd from the old plant.
“Wasa doesn’t have funds to maintain its system,” he said, adding that government institutions, departments and the Hyderabad Electric Supply Company (Hesco) owed millions of rupees in dues payable to Wasa.
He informed the commission that he had forwarded two PCs-II (project cost) to seek Rs40 million each for feasibility study of water supply and drainage sectors to the provincial government.
Justice Kalhoro asked the chief secretary’s focal person, who was present in court, to tell the commissioner about status of the PCs by Friday (today).
Sepa Director General Naeem Mughal stated that drinking water supplied by Wasa did not meet the WHO and National Environmental Quality standards. He said that some industrial units were closed down for not having their own treatment plants.
Justice Kalhoro asked the acting director general of the Hyderabad Development Authority to immediately provide funds for starting chlorination of water at Wasa’s facilities where settled or raw water was supplied from.
He asked the Hyderabad commissioner to ensure that private hospitals followed the hospital waste disposal law and take action against those found breaching it.
The commission also ordered closure of the old slaughterhouse existing on the right bank of Phulelli canal and asked the district administration not to allow any slaughterhouse to be built on the banks of any irrigation canal. It sought a report about Cattle Colony, where a modern slaughterhouse was lying non-functional.
Later, Justice Kalhoro set out to visit Wasa’s filtration plants, Darya Khan sewage disposal station and other such facilities as well as Phulelli canal along with the relevant officials.
Published in Dawn, January 20th, 2017