PHOTO: FILE
ISLAMABAD:
The apex court has rejected a report submitted by Punjab Environmental Protection Agency (Punjab-EPA) and has sought a fresh one on worsening environmental pollution in Murree.
The country’s top court has ordered Punjab-EPA Director General (DG) Dr Javed Iqbal to personally visit the area and submit fresh and unsullied information.
A full bench headed by Chief Justice Anwar Zaheer Jamali on Thursday directed Punjab-EPA to visit Samli and Rawal dams to check the flow of polluted water from housing schemes in Murree and investigate the felling of trees in the area before submitting a comprehensive report before the next hearing, which is scheduled for the second week of February.
The Punjab-EPA DG reported that cases had been filed against several people found to be violating the Environmental Protection Act. The bench rejected the report and Justice Arif Khilji said that environmental problems cannot be solved by simply reporting from air-conditioned rooms.
The chief justice said that water stored in Simly and Rawal dams is fed by melting snow and natural springs in the Murree hills, while untreated sewage and polluted wastewater from housing societies built along the banks of different tributaries of these dams is flowing into them and polluting the water.
Dangerous working conditions case
Meanwhile, in the suo moto case regarding the deaths of 18 stone-crushing workers in Gujranwala in 2014, the court ordered all provincial governments to take appropriate measures and frame rules regulating occupations involving stone crushing and the hazardous emission of silica dust.
A three-member bench headed by Chief Justice Jamali heard the suo motu case on Thursday. Sindh Additional Advocate General Sindh Sarwar Khan submitted a report on behalf of provincial government to inform the court that a special committee headed by the provincial labour secretary had been constituted to oversee stone crushing factories and complaints of silicosis.
He said that the committee had increased the number of surgeons available for treatment of silicosis patients from one to 18. He also informed the court that the Sindh Environmental Protection Agency had identified 121 illegal stone crushing units, 21 of which had been closed, while heavy fines had been imposed on the others. Moreover, he also said legal action had been initiated against 30 owners of stone crushing factories in Jamshoro, Thatta, Mitthi, Sukkar and Khairpur Distrticts. He also informed the court that the initial labour survey plan had be shaped, and the finance ministry had been approached to allocate funds for it.
No representatives for the other provinces appeared before the court. The court adjourned the case for an indefinite period.
Former chief justice Tassaduq Hussain Jillani had taken notice of the deaths on an application filed by Public Lawyers Front members Usama Khawar and Yahya Farid Khawaja.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 15th, 2016.
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