Daily Times

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court of Pakistan on Thursday asked Advocate Aitzaz Ahsan to submit recommendations to tackle the country’s water crisis by June 21.

Ahsan, who is assisting the court in suo motu proceedings on the water crisis, was also asked to prepare a report on the supply of drinking water and the state of water reserves in the country.

During the hearing on Thursday, the court issued summons for the chief commissioner of Islamabad, the Capital Development Authority (CDA) chairman and cantonment board officials along with politicians Malik Abrar, Malik Mehboob and Zamarud Khan to appear before it on Friday (today).

Earlier, expressing his concerns over the ongoing water crisis, CJP Mian Saqib Nisar stressed the need to evolve consensus on Kala Bagh Dam. He suggested that there should be a conference held on the issue, adding that the Law and Justice Commission of Pakistan would very soon organise a seminar on water crisis.

Ahsan, who is also a senator of the Pakistan People’s Party, said that though he was personally in favour of the dam’s construction, but if it were done without building a consensus, the controversial dam would weaken the federation.

The chief justice said those in power as well as those who’ve remained in power were responsible for the ongoing water crisis. “They have been getting votes and have not done anything to provide basic necessities to the public.”

Referring to the PML-N slogan “vote ko izzat do” (respect the vote), made popular during former premier Nawaz Sharif’s campaign against the Panama Papers verdict, the chief justice said that the real meaning of the slogan was that ‘you give people their fundamental rights’.

Besides Sharif, the chief justice also criticised former president Asif Ali Zardari for ‘doing nothing’ to tackle the water crisis in his tenure.

He said government did nothing during the last two years to ensure steady supply of water. He questioned government’s performance and asked if it had prioritised water crisis and arranged any funds to fill the gaps.

The chief justice said Neelum River would soon dry up as India was trying to stop its water.

“I am ready to play my role on the issue of water crisis as an arbitrato,” he said, while inviting Shums ul Mulk, former chairman of the Water and Power Development Authority, to appear in the court after Eid to brief it on ways to solve the crisis.

The chief justice said the hearings of the petition seeking construction of Kala Bagh would be started from the SC’s Karachi Registry. According to the schedule, the apex court’s Karachi and Lahore registries will hold hearings on June 9 and 10, respectively. The chief justice will also hear cases pertaining to water issues in the Peshawar and Quetta registries.

Also on Thursday, the additional attorney general told the court that the federal capital needed 120 million gallons of water per day (MGD) but it was being supplied less than half the quantity (58.7 MGD) every day.

He said if there were no rain, there would be no water in Islamabad after 15 days, adding that the rural areas were not receiving water at all. The chief justice said that after Karachi, Islamabad was also in need of water tankers now.

The chief justice noted that a water tanker was being sold in Islamabad at Rs1,500. In Lahore alone, Rs4 billion was wasted on a water project that failed to deliver. He said former Punjab CM Shehbaz Sharif had conceded that in the court.

Social activist Tahira Abdullah stated in the court that water policy could not be approved despite the lapse of 16 years. She said Pakistan would be facing a severe water shortage by 2025 if the status quo prevailed.

She said in Islamabad, the rich were paying just Rs500 as water bill, after three months. She said the government should stop boring and installation of water meters.

The chief justice remarked that water was not flowing into Simly Dam due to failed policies of the successive governments. The officials of the Metropolitan Corporation Islamabad stated that no money was spent on water supply schemes after 1960. They said there was no choice but to channel water from Tarbela Dam.

Published in Daily Times, June 8^th 2018.