Sir: According to judicial commission reports on drinking water and sanitation facilities as reported in the media, there is no locality in Sindh where drinking water is provided according to WHO standards and the household and industrial wastage is released in the River Indus and its canals on 414 points. A couple of days ago while traveling to attend a cultural event in a village of Badin District, I saw a big canal from Matlai with poisonous material flowing southwards for several kilometers. Unbearable smell even penetrated closed glasses of car windows. We thought what would be the condition of the people traveling on bikes and other open or semi open modes of transport or those who lived around this ‘canal of death’. When I asked the host of the event why this poisonous material is not dumped or treated before its release into the sea, the friend retorted, ‘one of the sugar mills belongs to Zardari’. Government spokesperson never gets tired of counting the development achievements of the Sindh government but ground realities shout loudly that Sindh has been turned into garbage heap and cesspool of sewerage water. The hue and cry by media, remarks and rulings of apex courts fell on deaf ears of government functionaries and equally corrupt and callous officialdom. If the present state of affairs regarding the extremely basic needs like water and sanitation remains the same and continues to be worsening, the present government would be honored to completely bury the past golden civilised heritage of Sindh. GULSHER PANHWER Johi