Daily Times

ISLAMABAD: Chief Justice Mian Saqib Nisar Monday gave the mineral water companies a week to improve their functioning or face shutdown.

“No one will die of thirst if mineral water companies are closed,” he said, warning the companies to stop defrauding the public or quit the industry.

A Supreme Court bench headed by Chief Justice Mian Saqib Nisar heard a suo motu case pertaining to the exploitation of water resources by mineral water companies operating in the country.

As the hearing started, water technologist Professor Dr Ahsan Siddiqui told the bench that mineral water companies tell a lie when they say they add minerals to the water extracted from underground. “Minerals occur naturally in the water and these companies replace the naturally occurring minerals with artificial ones,” he said. “For every glass of water, three other glasses of water are wasted. Mineral water companies use 7.5 billion litres of groundwater monthly, and 1.5 billion litres of polluted water is released back into the underground,” he informed the court, adding that expired chemicals are being used to test water.

The chief justice remarked that the bench has no soft spot for the mineral water companies operating in the country. “End this fraud with the public. We can’t let our children drink this water,” he stated, adding that these mineral water companies would ‘turn Pakistan into Ethiopia’.

The top judge remarked that these companies will have to pay for all the water they have extracted from the underground. “They have stolen billions of rupees water. People should boycott these mineral water companies. We will not allow the water to be stolen,” he asserted.

The chief justice observed that if the mineral water companies had been paying taxes on their use of water, the dam fund would not need money from anyone else. “What remains is registration of a case against these companies,” he stated.

“They are taking water from Indus River and canals. They are cleaning the water and selling it,” he said, remarking, “There should be a restriction on the mineral water companies.”

He told a mineral water company owner that until now the company had been selling citizens poor quality drinking water. “Do you not think about the country and citizens?” he asked, passing the observation that water quality of only two companies was acceptable.

Environmental Protection Agency Director General Farzana Shah told the court that mineral water companies source their water from the ground and canals in Punjab, replacing the canal water with sewage. The tainted water, she said, is then used by farmers to water their crops.

A lawyer for a mineral water company, Shahid Hamid, said that his client had adhered to all the quality standards. The chief justice said the court still had not registered a case against mineral water companies, although given the conduct of the companies, he said, it should be done. He directed Hamid to provide monetary reimbursement for the water that had been withdrawn.

The chief justice then warned the companies to improve their working within a week, or else they will be shut down. He also summoned a meeting of all stakeholders, including advocate generals and representatives from the government and the mineral water companies, to review the matter.

Published in Daily Times, December 4^th 2018.