The Supreme Court (SC) on Wednesday ordered Bestway Cement in Chakwal to fill up the Katas Raj temple's pond within a week.

A three-member SC bench, headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Mian Saqib Nisar, is hearing a suo motu case based on media reports that the Katas Raj pond is drying out due to water consumption by nearby cement factories.

The factories are reportedly draining the pond through a number of bored wells which have reduced the subsoil water level the created shortages for domestic users as well.

A Bestway Cement factory is on of the four major cement production units located in the area.

In the Wednesday hearing of the case, the bench expressed anger over the continued absence of Bestway Cement's counsel, Babar Sattar.

The bench told the Punjab government to provide details of the conditions under which the authorities had allowed the construction of cement factories in the area. The court also sought reports on the environmental pollution factories cause in the area.

The prosecution claims that the cement factories in the Katas Raj temple area have worsened the risks of breast cancer and respiratory diseases among people living nearby due to their activities.

"We will not allow cement factories to operate at the cost of people's health," the chief justice declared on Wednesday.

The SC had also expressed dismay over the absence of representations of Hindu deities in the historic Sri Ram and Hanuman temples in the complex and sought an explanation from the Evacuee Trust Property Board (ETPB) in this regard a day earlier.

The ETPB, which oversees the temple's affairs, had informed the SC that representations of Hindu deities had been removed from the temples on fears of reprisal attacks following the demolition of the Babri Mosque in India in 1992.

The temples were then locked up to prevent desecration that might be caused by wild jackals and bats in the area.

The court was perturbed to learn that Hindu pilgrims who visited the holy site had to bring their own idols to perform their rituals.

The authorities had later requested an Indian political leader to donate some idols, but it was not granted, the ETPB chairman said in a written response.

The chairman also claimed that no religious services are held in Shri Ram and Hanuman temples since they are archaeological sites. The Shiv Ling (an idol of Hindu deity Shiva) was present in all temples where people come to worship, he said.

Katas Raj temple

The Katas Raj temple is one of the Hindu community's most well-known places of worship. The name of the temple complex is a derivative of Kataksha, a Sanskrit word meaning “tearful eyes”.

According to legend, its fabled pond was formed from the the tears of Lord Shiva as he wept uncontrollably upon the death of Sati, his wife.

The pond occupies an area of two kanals and 15 marlas, with a maximum depth of 20 feet.