Top court seeks proposal from provinces on groundwater pricing

Three-member SC bench hears case pertaining to fixing price of groundwater

ISLAMABAD: Directing the provinces to submit their recommendations in a case pertaining to the pricing of groundwater with the attorney general, the Supreme Court advised the industries to forward their recommendations to the concerned provincial governments.

The top court in its order directed the provincial governments to present along with their recommendations the proposals forwarded by the companies.

A three-member bench headed by Justice Umar Ata Bandial heard the case on the price fixation of underground water.

At the outset of the hearing, the deputy attorney general told the court that the provincial governments have not yet presented their legal opinion on the price of underground water.

Additional Advocate General for Punjab Faisal Chaudhry maintained that the provincial cabinet had given approval for Water Act after which it would be presented in the provincial assembly for approval.

The counsel for the Sindh government told the court that the provincial government had forwarded four different recommendations to the authorities.

He said that Sindh already had a law pertaining to the use of water-based on which water bills were being charged.

He added that the issues faced by Sindh could not be resolved by the office of the attorney general, despite the provincial government had sent its draft recommendations to the attorney general.

Justice Bandial maintained that the authorities were charging too little for the canal water.

He noted that responsibility lied on the provincial governments but they paid no heed to the issue.

The counsel responded that the sites used by water companies did not even have air as deep as 100 feet.

Justice Bandial remarked it seemed a situation similar to that of Kataj Raj was developing in Sindh.

Meanwhile, the counsel for the K-P government maintained that consultations were being held by the concerned stakeholders on the issue. He added a public opinion on the matter was yet to be taken, while the interests of the industries must also be looked into. He requested the court to exercise restraint.

AG Sindh said that the government could not send any recommendation to the attorney general before it was approved by the provincial cabinet.

Justice Bandial advised the Sindh government to internally address all such reservations before sending them to the attorney general. Justice Ijazul Ahsan questioned why the Sindh government had not forwarded the details on the districts, while Punjab had presented its details to the attorney general.

Justice Bandial stated that only Sindh was not showing agreement, while the other three provinces had developed consensus.

Punjab government's counsel Faisal Chaudhry informed the court that 75% of water metres had been installed in the province whereas the job was completed in Lahore and Faisalabad, while a month more was required for the completion of entire work in Punjab.

Justice Bandial questioned about the amount of work in Sindh. AG Sindh responded that the committee had given a list of 14 industries on which the metres had been installed, while the committee had not provided a list for other industries.

The court adjourned the hearing for an indefinite period.