The one-member water commission appointed by the Supreme Court to probe Sindh's water troubles on Monday threatened banning all construction in Karachi's Defence Housing Authority (DHA) and Clifton areas until a territorial dispute between the two is resolved.

The commissioner, retired Justice Amir Hani Muslim, also slammed the DHA and the defence ministry — which has the authority's administrative control — for failing to take appropriate action for the provision of clean water in the upscale housing locality and the disposal of its sewage.

The commissioner, in the court, said that he would ban all construction in DHA and Clifton until the resolution of dispute between the two but there was no mention of the ban in the written orders issued later.

A report regarding water treatment plants and sewerage — asked for at an earlier hearing — was presented to the commission today, which claimed that two treatments plants in Phase I and Phase VIII of DHA are being built, with the latter having the capability of treating 2.4 million gallons per day (mgd) of water.

Justice Muslim asked the joint secretary defence if he had done his homework on the matter and asked him how much water was actually being used in DHA. The authority informed that between five and six mgd of water was being used within the housing authority's limits.

"These are your figures. People also get water from tankers and other sources," the commissioner retorted.

He asked the authority to "realise" its own responsibilities while noting that DHA should have the capacity to provide at least 10mgd through its water treatment plants in order to cater to the needs of the area, especially keeping in view the mushrooming number of high rise projects being approved by DHA.

Disposal of sewage into the sea

The commission also expressed its anger over untreated sewage being channeled into the sea. It noted that while new construction is being permitted on whim, there seems to be a severe lack of planning in the area.

He also held both the Ministry of Defence and DHA responsible for the improper disposal of sewage.

Explore: Is Pakistan running out of fresh water?

When asked about the number of commercial and business centres in DHA, the housing authority officials were caught unawares. They informed the commission that the authority was planned such that the waste of its phases I-VII would be treated at a plant in Mehmoodabad, at which Justice Muslim noted that the Karachi Municipal Corporation (KMC) and the water board were themselves in dire straights.

The water board's chief, however, denied the claim, saying no such planning had been done.

When informed that around 580 million gallons of sewage water was being disposed off into the sea everyday, the commission asked appropriate action to be taken so that by June 2019, only treated water is let out in the sea.

Construction of water line from North Nazimabad to Kati Pahari stopped

The commission also ordered the construction of a 12-inch water pipeline from North Nazimabad to Kati Pahari to be halted after a complainant claimed that District Central's Deputy Commissioner Asif Jan had forced the Karachi Water and Sewerage Board (KWSB) to build the line.

Refuting the claim, a water board official said that the line was being laid because the Pahar Ganj area at times does not receive water for up to 12 days.

Read: Why a clean drinking water project in Punjab is going nowhere

The managing director of KWSB, however, conceded that hundreds of thousands of illegal water connections continued to exist in the city, at which the commission ordered appropriate action and a report on remedial measures to be presented.

A water board official also complained that the board had issues accessing cantonment areas, including the Malir Cantonment, due to which some pumping stations in those localities did not have meters installed.

The commission subsequently ordered cantonment authorities to appoint a focal person to deal with the issue and asked the relevant cantonment boards and DHA to bear the expenses of installation of meters at their respective pumping stations.

The hearing was adjourned until June 11.

Water supply in Sindh being impacted by national shortage

Separately, a meeting chaired by caretaker Chief Minister Sindh Fazalur Rehman was informed that the province was being provided 36,450 cusecs of water under its 35 per cent share, down from the contractual 106,300 cusecs because of a shortage of water faced by the entire country.

Secretary Irrigation Jamal Shah said that the situation was likely to improve by June 15.

The chief minister directed the officials to improve water management to deal with the crisis. He said that the provision of water to tail-end should be ensured while levels at Keenjhar lake should also be maintained so that provision of water to Karachi continues.

Additional reporting by Imtiaz Mugheri.