Daily Times

ISLAMABAD: Chief Justice Mian Saqib Nisar has been requested to take suo motu notice of the slackness of the government in provision of safe drinking water to citizens across the country.

“I would like to seek your kind indulgence to a very sensitive problem, which the federal and provincial governments should have attended to but have failed miserably,” stated a letter by senior journalist Kanwar Rashid Habib, which he moved in the Supreme Court on Wednesday.

The letter stated that safe drinking water was a basic need, adding that one might survive without food for a few days but would not be able to live even for a few hours in the upcoming scorching heat without water.

“The water being supplied through pipelines is absolutely not safe for drinking, as it is neither treated according to the set minimum standards of hygiene nor the system of supply is up to the mark… rather the water being supplied is contaminated and is dangerous for human life,” the letter stated, adding that the pipelines were also rusty, with several leakages. Since the water supply lines run parallel to sanitary sewer lines, leakages in their pipes cause their water to mix, he said.

The letter maintained that in the past, at the government level, some water filtration plants were installed in a few localities of the country.

It further stated that these filtration plants should have been installed in all localities, communities and residential as well as commercial areas of the country.

The letter lamented that those filtration plants were also not maintained in a few areas, which showed slackness on part of the administration.

“It is a perception that the companies which are engaged in the business of mineral water are manipulating [authorities concerned] and are making them keep the general public, especially the poor, short of safe drinking water just to boost their businesses,” the letter stated.

The letter also shed light on another alarming situation, stating that the water sold by these companies was not only expensive but also not safe, as there was no regulator, like food inspectors, to check as to whether the water being sold was purified and filtered according to international standards.

“A common man can’t afford to purchase mineral water on a daily basis for the whole family,” letter stated. “For the sake of human life’s safety and [people’s] right to live… I request you to kindly take suo motu action,” the letter pleaded.

It requested the chief justice to direct the government to install safe drinking water plants throughout the country, as according to the predictions, the upcoming summer would not only be very hot but also very long, as southern parts of the country were experiencing very high temperature.

Advocate Faisal Chaudhry, member of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s legal team, said that he would plead the case on behalf of the applicant, as it was a matter of public importance and people’s fundamental rights.