Environment: SC dissatisfied with efforts of provinces

ISLAMABAD:

The country’s top court on Wednesday expressed dismay over the apathy of provincial governments in controlling environmental degradation.

A three judge bench of the Supreme Court, headed by chief justice Anwar Zaheer Jamali, on Wednesday took up the 2003 suo motu case regarding pollution.

As the court heard the case on Wednesday, provincial governments submitted progress reports regarding actions that they had taken for controlling environmental degradation.

Additional Advocate General (AAG) Qazi Shahryar, who submitted the report for Sindh, said that notices had been issued to those factories which were not following environmental laws.

Dissatisfied, the bench asked whether it should ignore how the provincial administration had only issued the notices to violators after the case had been pending for 12 years.

Pointing out how the poor environmental situation in Karachi, CJ Jamali sought details of violators who had been punished.

“Ghost employees are common in municipal committees,” he added, noting that the department responsible for maintaining cleanliness in the city cares little for it and whether SC judges should themselves monitor them.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 26^th,  2015.