KARACHI: The Supreme Court-mandated commission on water and sanitation in Sindh on Friday expressed displeasure with Bahria Town over non-appearance of its representative in a matter about water issues at its housing scheme in Karachi and decided to send the matter to the Supreme Court.

The commission headed by former Supreme Court judge Justice Amir Hani Muslim said that in compliance with Oct 27 order of the Supreme Court, Bahria Town had submitted a report regarding quantity of water being drawn and other sources of water as well as charges of water being paid to the government or water utility while the Karachi Water and Sewerage Board (KWSB) also filed comments.

The matter was fixed for Friday, but the commission said that despite a notice served upon Bahria Town Karachi, nobody appeared before the commission.

KWSB asked to install flow meters

The KWSB filed reply, but it required details and the commission directed the managing director of the water utility to file a detailed reply till Nov 19.

Therefore, Justice Muslim observed that the matter would be sent back to the Supreme Court for its appropriate orders.

It may be recalled that on Oct 27, Chief Justice of Pakistan Mian Saqib Nisar while heading a three-judge bench at the apex court’s Karachi registry had directed Bahria Town Karachi to file within 10 days a comprehensive report on the water system of its housing scheme, including number of tube wells and other sources of water, quantity of water being drawn as well as charges of water being paid to the government or the KWSB, to the water commission.

Flow meters

The commission came down heavily on the managing director of the KWSB and observed that it’s unfortunate that the commission had repeatedly been issuing directives for installation of flow meters on water pipelines, but the KWSB was reluctant to install meters for one or other reason.

It directed the MD of KWSB to initiate departmental action against those officers responsible for non compliance.

The court also asked the MD of KWSB to award contracts for installation of water meters within 15 days and warned him proceedings would be initiated in case of further delay.

Justice Muslim observed that after the award of the contract, the flow meters must be installed without further loss of time and the exercise should be completed by February.

Water issues in DHA

The commission was informed that its focal person had held a meeting with officials of the Defence Housing Authority and the Cantonment Board Clifton and with consent of stakeholders a committee had been formed.

The committee would be headed by the deputy commissioner of Korangi and a senior superintendent of police would also be part of it while representatives of the DHA, the CBC and the KWSB would also be members of the committee.

The commission said that the applicants, who approached it over water issues in the DHA and Clifton, would also be part of the committee, which will regulate the connections which had been illegally made by the public.

The committee would also ensure that the pipeline which was supplying water to the DHA be regulated within 15 days.

Published in Dawn, November 17th, 2018