KARACHI:
In 2007, Pakistan witnessed a new era of judicial activism in the country. Lawyers who led the movement became a group to reckon with. The Chief Justice would take suo moto notices of almost anything and everything to an extent that at times the government seemed powerless. However, not all that came out of this activism was bad.
For example, the Chief Justice took notice of rising inflation and fixed the price of sugar. He asked the government to fix the prices of other commodities too. Similarly, he took notice of poultry farms that were situated upstream of the Rawal Dam, which supplies drinking water to Islamabad. He asked the administration to ensure that no farm is located such that its waste would end up in water bodies flowing down to the Rawal dam because the waste would contaminate the dam water. However, I cannot ascertain whether any action was ever taken on those orders?
The government must ensure that no poultry or other untreated industrial waste is dumped into waterways or lands. We are already facing immense pollution-related problems such as smog and water-borne diseases due to our lax attitude toward environmental protection. It is about time that the government and public take serious steps to protect our scarce water resources and highly polluted air. Otherwise, we will be faced with grave consequences emerging from water scarcity in the near future.
Raja Shafaatullah
Islamabad
Published in The Express Tribune, December 21st, 2021.
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