BADIN/MITHI: Piqued by negligence, lethargy and lack of interest he observed on the part of irrigation, sanitation and other relevant officials, as well as higher authorities of Badin and Tharparkar districts, Justice Mohammad Iqbal Kalhoro — who heads the one-man judicial commission formed by the Supreme Court — on Tuesday ordered an immediate halt to disposal of effluent into watercourses across the two districts.

Justice Kalhoro reprimanded many officials during his visit to watercourses, reverse osmosis (RO) plants, filtration plants and pumping stations in Badin and Tharparkar after finding them negligent, lethargic and irresponsible towards their assigned duties.

He observed that the quality of water meant for drinking purpose was not fit for human consumption as effluent was disposed of into canals everywhere and the officials concerned appeared least bothered about it. “People are being made to consume contaminated and hazardous water, which is bound to cause diseases,” he said.

During his visit to water supply and sewerage installations in Badin, Justice Kalhoro asked all officials concerned to ensure supply of safe drinking water to consumers by putting an immediate halt to the disposal of sewage, waste, garbage and other effluent into canals and other watercourses.

The judge was accompanying Sindh High Court Registrar Ghulam Mustafa Channa, Badin District and Sessions Judge Tariq Mehmood Khoso, Deputy Commissioner Shaukat Hussain Jokhio and other senior officials of the departments concerned.

He asked the DC to maintain a strict check on the practice of dumping waste and disposing off effluent into irrigation channels.

He ordered removal of all pipes and dismantling of all modules installed to facilitate disposal of industrial, domestic or other waste water into irrigation channels.

Briefing the commission about performance of the district administration in the sessions court, DC Jokhio said that 80 per cent of encroachment along watercourses had been removed and the rest would be done away with soon. He said most pipes and modules carrying effluent into canals had also been dismantled.

Some officials posted at an RO plant in Badin earned the judge’s ire when they failed to give satisfactory answer to his questions about regular testing of drinking water to ensure its purity.

The judge had asked them how many times a year water samples were collected and sent to laboratories and whether the results were satisfactory.

Justice Kalhoro warned them to discharge their duties efficiently in the interest of public health.

Shahab Usto, on whose petition the commission has been formed to inspect quality of drinking water and status of sanitation across the province, also accompanied the judge.

Later, Justice Kalhoro, along with the SHC registrar and the petitioner, proceeded to Tharparkar and received a briefing from officials of the district administration and relevant departments on the status of water supply and sanitation in the desert region.

The judge also visited the Misri Shah reverse osmosis plant, said to be Asia’s biggest, in Mithi and several other plants and reservoirs in the district headquarters, Naukot and Islamkot.

Justice Kalhoro observed that providing safe drinking water to citizens and maintaining hygienic conditions in cities, towns and villages were prime responsibilities of the officials concerned. He also posed several questions to officers of Pak Oasis — a firm that has undertaken installation and maintenance of RO plants in the desert region — about the mechanism for testing and maintaining drinking water quality and ensuring supply of the essential commodity to all consumers in the region.

The judge expressed his displeasure over unsatisfactory answers given by the officials. He asked the Tharparkar deputy commissioner, his subordinate officials and the district and sessions judge to ensure supply of adequate water to the entire population of the region on a priority basis.

He noted with concern that an acute water shortage prevailed in the district because flows were not released in the Rann minor — the only watercourse meant for Tharparkar — while the condition of drinking water reservoirs was terrible.

Published in Dawn, February 8th, 2017