Chief Justice of Pakistan Mian Saqib Nisar on Thursday censured the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government over its failure to provide clean drinking water to citizens and the unsatisfactory progress made by it for the disposal of sewage and industrial waste.
The CJP, who was hearing a suo motu case at the Supreme Court’s Peshawar registry, ordered KP Chief Minister Pervez Khattak to appear before the court and explain the reasons behind his government's shortcomings.
When the chief minister appeared before the three-member bench, the CJP informed him that he had visited Peshawar's Lady Reading Hospital (LRH) earlier in the day but observed no improvement in the state of affairs there.
"Do you know what is the population of Peshawar [and] how much waste is flowing into its streams?" he asked Khattak, who remained silent in response.
"It is your duty to satisfy the public, which you failed to do," remarked the CJP, who is in Peshawar for a two-day visit during which he will be hearing cases at the SC’s Peshawar registry.
The CJP observed that the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI)-led government makes tall claims, but asked the chief minister how many new hospitals and schools were constructed during the last five years of his government, which he stressed was "not a short amount of time".
"The slogan of 'honour the vote' is being raised [by political leaders], [but] the real honour lies in serving the public," Justice Nisar remarked.
Chief Minister Khattak then defended his government's performance, saying the structure of schools and hospitals was in a shambles when he started and things have since improved.
"You would have seen [how bad the situation was] if you had visited four years ago," he said, adding that the results of his administration's educational and other efforts will become apparent 4-5 years later.
But the CJP appeared unconvinced, saying he has had to face "hopelessness" from every side. He said he was well aware that things were being cleaned up in Peshawar a week in advance of his visit.
Justice Nisar had earlier in the day grilled provincial officials over the steps taken to ensure that clean drinking water is available to citizens.
"Which canal are you throwing Peshawar's waste into?" he asked KP Chief Secretary Azam Khan, before asking why no dumping ground existed in the city for the purpose.
Justice Nisar took the secretary to task when he informed the court that sewerage water is dumped into canals and rivers. "You say everything is good here ... where is your 'good governance'?" he asked.
At the outset of the hearing of a case concerning the disposal of hospitals' waste, the CJP had remarked that the conditions in hospitals of Karachi and Lahore has improved on the court's orders and asked the health secretary what the situation was like in KP.
The health secretary revealed that a total of 1,570 hospitals are operating in the province while two districts lack a district headquarters (DHQ) hospital. On the court's orders, the secretary also submitted a report about the process adopted by the government to dispose of medical waste.
Visit to medical college
The CJP also heard a case about exorbitant fees charged by private medical colleges in the province.