More loyal than the king

It emerged this week that two officials of the Islamabad Metropolitan Corporation (IMC) have been suspended for the poor cleanliness at Rawal Dam. The action was taken after PM Imran Khan took notice of poor cleanliness in and around the dam which supplies water to Rawalpindi. The only catch was that the two suspended officers – the IMC chief inspector and the chief supervisor – had nothing to do with maintaining cleanliness. Interestingly, the department responsible for the cleanliness of Rawal Dam is the Punjab Small Dams Project. The Islamabad district administration, in its haste to please the PM, even conducted a small cleanliness activity at the lake even though it does not fall within its jurisdiction.

The matter of supplying dirty and contaminated waters is quite a serious one. So serious, in fact, that it was Imran himself who had filed a complaint with the human rights cell of the Supreme Court a few years ago. After several hearings, the court had directed the government to set up wastewater treatment plants at the lake and on all in-flowing streams. Curiously, Imran’s own government has now been lethargic in implementing the court’s orders. More so, the PM – a resident of Islamabad for the better part of two decades, particularly residing in an area whose raw effluents drain into the lake and pollute it – has failed to address this key issue concerning the capital city. Just a few weeks ago, IMC sanitation workers had gone on a strike because the corporation had no money to pay their wages that had been blocked for months. It took a strike by the workers and for the stench of garbage in every street to reach the corridors of power before the necessary funds were released.

Provision of clean drinking water is an inalienable, fundamental right and the government must take adequate steps to ensure the same rather than scapegoating two lowly employees who have nothing to do with the matter.