Arsenic contamination: Wasa told to hurry up with filtration plants
Chief justice tells agency to complete tender process for import of plants by June 15.
LAHORE:
Chief Justice Ijaz Ahmed Chaudhry of the Lahore High Court on Wednesday directed the Water and Sanitation Agency (WASA) to expedite the installation of water filtration plants on the city’s tubewells.
The chief justice issued these directions after going through a report submitted by a lawyer representing Wasa, who also told the court that tenders for the import of filtration plants had been invited through a pre-qualification notice with the cooperation of the National Engineering Service of Pakistan (NESPAK).
He said the process would be completed before June 30, but the chief justice directed him to complete it by June 15, the next date of the hearing of suo motu pleas against the presence of arsenic in the city’s drinking water supply.
Advocate Mateenul Haq Chaudhry, who filed the petition, pointed out that the water supply was also being affected by electricity load shedding.
He said Wasa claimed to have installed power generators on all tubewells to ensure supply, but in reality many areas lost their water supply when the lights went out. The chief justice directed Wasa to ensure a continuous supply of water and that tubewells keep running during power outages.
At the last hearing, the Punjab government had told the court that Rs42 million had been transferred to Wasa for the installation of water filtration plants on tubewells in Lahore.
An additional advocate general had also filed a report on behalf of the Wasa managing director which showed that 150 water filtration plants had been imported from China.
Each union council of Lahore would get one filtration plant, the report said.
The CJ directed Wasa authorities to complete the tender process quickly and sought an audit report of Rs200 million given to the authority for cleaning the city drains.
Former chief justice Khawaja Muhammad Sharif had taken suo motu notice of the case last year after the press reported an Environmental Protection Department study that showed that 253 of Wasa’s 292 tubewells were contaminated with arsenic, a poisonous substance.
Advocates Mateenul Haq and Muhammad Sohail Dar filed writ petitions demanding action against Wasa, saying that the Punjab government had given the agency funds to provide safe drinking water, but the money had lapsed due negligence.
In reply to the allegations, Wasa said it supplied water though a distribution network made of ductile iron, cast iron, asbestos cement and high density polyethylene and polyvinyl chloride pipelines. This system was regularly disinfected through chlorination, it said.
Published in The Express Tribune, May 26th, 2011.
Chief Justice Ijaz Ahmed Chaudhry of the Lahore High Court on Wednesday directed the Water and Sanitation Agency (WASA) to expedite the installation of water filtration plants on the city’s tubewells.
The chief justice issued these directions after going through a report submitted by a lawyer representing Wasa, who also told the court that tenders for the import of filtration plants had been invited through a pre-qualification notice with the cooperation of the National Engineering Service of Pakistan (NESPAK).
He said the process would be completed before June 30, but the chief justice directed him to complete it by June 15, the next date of the hearing of suo motu pleas against the presence of arsenic in the city’s drinking water supply.
Advocate Mateenul Haq Chaudhry, who filed the petition, pointed out that the water supply was also being affected by electricity load shedding.
He said Wasa claimed to have installed power generators on all tubewells to ensure supply, but in reality many areas lost their water supply when the lights went out. The chief justice directed Wasa to ensure a continuous supply of water and that tubewells keep running during power outages.
At the last hearing, the Punjab government had told the court that Rs42 million had been transferred to Wasa for the installation of water filtration plants on tubewells in Lahore.
An additional advocate general had also filed a report on behalf of the Wasa managing director which showed that 150 water filtration plants had been imported from China.
Each union council of Lahore would get one filtration plant, the report said.
The CJ directed Wasa authorities to complete the tender process quickly and sought an audit report of Rs200 million given to the authority for cleaning the city drains.
Former chief justice Khawaja Muhammad Sharif had taken suo motu notice of the case last year after the press reported an Environmental Protection Department study that showed that 253 of Wasa’s 292 tubewells were contaminated with arsenic, a poisonous substance.
Advocates Mateenul Haq and Muhammad Sohail Dar filed writ petitions demanding action against Wasa, saying that the Punjab government had given the agency funds to provide safe drinking water, but the money had lapsed due negligence.
In reply to the allegations, Wasa said it supplied water though a distribution network made of ductile iron, cast iron, asbestos cement and high density polyethylene and polyvinyl chloride pipelines. This system was regularly disinfected through chlorination, it said.
Published in The Express Tribune, May 26th, 2011.