ISLAMABAD: The Senate’s Standing Committee on Science and Technology was informed Friday that tea whiteners – the so called milk that is even harmful for animals’ consumption – was being provided for human consumption in Pakistan. The committee’s meeting, held under the chair of Senator Osama Saifullah Khan in the Parliament House, was further told that use of tea whiteners was responsible for kidney and other diseases. It was shared that 80 percent of drinking water samples taken from across the country were found unfit for human consumption, with people living in rural areas suffering the most as compared to those living in urban areas. It was also shared that Balochistan was confronting severe water shortage, while Sindh was yet to develop a water policy. The committee expressed qualms about the proposed standard operating procedures (SOPs) for tea/coffee whiteners forwarded to the Ministry of Law and Justice by the Pakistan Standards Quality and Control Authority (PSQCA) without tabling it before the Senate body. “The Senate body had directed in its last meeting that the draft SOPs would be presented before the committee for thorough discussion but the authority did not take them on board and sent the draft directly to Law Ministry for vetting,” committee members pointed out. The chairman directed the PSQCA to presents draft SOPs at the next meeting and also summoned representatives of Ministry of Law and Justice to discuss the matter. Earlier, the committee was informed that 25 brands of packaged milk had applied for licence among which 21 got registered, while applications of two brands were under process and two brands were facing litigation as they were not meeting the required standards of the authority. The committee directed the Pakistan Council for Research and Water Resources (PCRWR) to examine water of all filtration plants installed in the Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) on a monthly basis to ensure safe drinking water for residents. The PCRWR chairman told the committee that they had tested water samples of 22 filtration plants of the capital among which samples of 15 plants were found safe, while seven samples were found unfit for human consumption. The meeting was attended by Senator Lieutenant General (r) Abdul Qayyum, Senator Sardar Fateh Muhammad Muhammad Hassani and Senator Mir Muhammad Ateeq Sheikh and officials of the Ministry of Science and Technology and the Capital Development Authority. Published in Daily Times, September 9th 2017.