ISLAMABAD: The Chief Justice of Pakistan, Mian Saqib Nisar on Monday declared that the Supreme Court would begin hearing cases related to the water crisis and to the Kalabagh dam next week, and claimed that he was reopening cases that had been lying dormant for ‘thirty two years’.
“I have reopened 32-year-old cases,” the CJP said, “the Court will hear the Kalabagh Dam case and the water cases next week, since water scarcity is the biggest problem the country is presently facing.”
The CJP ordered the claimants in the cases to begin preparing, and vowed that the court undertake proceedings on such petitions.
The Kalabagh Dam’s history is embroiled in political strife, with provincialism leading to governments being unable to begin constructing the Dam.
Interestingly, the Council of Common Interests (CCI) under Nawaz Sharif’s first tenure had given the Dam the green light in its meeting on the 16th of September, 1991. All provinces had then given their consent to the project in this meeting.
On the 9th of May 1998, the CCI reviewed the case, once again under Nawaz Sharif’s tenure.
Despite the CCI’s stamp of approval, the case went to court with the Lahore High Court (LHC) ordering the then federal government on 29th November 2012 to begin constructing the dam.
Pakistan, meanwhile, is in the throes of a severe water crisis with temperatures going as high as 48 degrees Celsius in some cities. Reports also claim that if Pakistan fails to expand its water storage facilities, it could ‘run out of water’ by 2025.