KARACHI: As untreated effluent of the metropolis continues to pollute the sea, the authorities have been dragging their feet to make the treatment plants operational. Even after the passage of the three mon ths since the water commission report to the Sindh government has failed to make the key treatment plants in the city operational. Sindh chief secretary informed Justice Muhammad Iqbal Kalhoro, who headed the judicial commission, was informed that the authorities were facing difficulties in rehabilitating treatment plant TP-II as the main portion of it has been encroached upon and leased out by the KMC where hundreds of houses have been built. The government is looking for alternate land to evacuate the inhabitants residing on the premises of the treatment plant. Whereas, the remaining two power plants, TP-I and TP-III couldn’t be made functional for want of funds. When asked about the timeframe for making these two plants operational, he sought one week’s time to apprise the commission of precise time. Advcoate General Zameer Ghumro argued that the commission had no jurisdiction to issue show-cause notice to officials and initiate contempt proceedings against them. He was directed by the commission to come prepared to forward arguments on this point, but he sought one week’s time to forward his arguments. Sindh Rangers had submitted a report saying that the personnel of the paramilitary forces are patrolling the specific area of Malir riverbed to keep check on lifting of sand. Following the Supreme Court orders the commission of inquiry headed by Justice Muhammad Iqbal Kalhoro had conducted the inquiry into the shortage of safe drinking water and poor sanitation conditions across the province and submitted his 130-page report within six weeks. According to the commission’s report, the Pakistan Council of Research in Water Resources (PCRWR) had taken 300 water samples from different districts of the province for testing and found that water was unsafe for human consumption. The commission said that it was now established that the people of the province were not drinking potable water. The Indus River, its tributaries and channels, which are sources of drinkable water, have been polluted by constant drainage of untreated sewage from houses and industries into the river. It said inefficiency, lack of interest and corrupt practices of the officials, the filter plants have been rendered almost redundant. It had pointed out that the provincial and civic agencies had miserably failed to deliver, drinkable water supply, sewerage and solid waste management services throughout the province. Taking great exception to the abysmal situation of shortage of drinkable water and poor sanitation facilitates, the Supreme had formed a task force to implement its orders and the commission’s recommendations. The court had directed the Sindh chief secretary to set up a committee to make all filter and treatment plants fully operational and ensure chlorination of water, setting up of computerized laboratories and deployment of trained staff to test the quality of water. The water utility’s head was ordered to immediately make Shershah and Mauripur sewage treatment plants operational and take steps to rehabilitate another plant whose land was stated to have been encroached upon. It had also directed the chairman of Karachi Port Trust, KWSB managing director and Sindh Solid Waste Management Boards director to personally examine all water channels/drains that bring and discharge effluents and solid waste into the harbour and the Karachi coast and devise practical, inexpensive and immediate measures from their existing budgets to prevent the pollution of the harbour and the Karachi coast. It directed the health department to ensure that the machinery for safe disposal of hospital waste was made functional in all hospitals. Published in Daily Times, July 9th , 2017