WASA employees booked for suspending drainage

Union alleges action is only taken after their protests against non-payment of salaries

HYDERABAD:

The Water and Sanitation Agency (WASA) has booked its employees for forcefully suspending drainage system in some parts of Hyderabad. The suspended employees had staged a token protest for non-payment of salaries. The FIRs, nominating the CBA union's office bearers and members, were lodged on the complaint of the officials of WASA at GOR and Hussainbad police stations on Saturday.

According to the complainant assistant executive engineer Kashif Mehmood and Tanveer Qureshi, in charge of Giddu chowk pumping station, the accused closed the operation at drainage system pumping stations. The sewerage system remained suspended for around two hours during which sewage accumulated at the railway underpasses in Latifabad and Hussainabad.

Khan and Qureshi said the situation created difficulty for the commuters and might have resulted in some accident. The accused include Abdul Qayum Bhatti, Aijaz Hussain, operator Zameer Pathan, Muhamamd Raheem Khoso, Javed Bhatti, Niaz Chandio, Shabir Ahmed and others.

They have been booked under sections 353, 147 and 148 of Pakistan Penal Code. The protesting employees accused the managing director of WASA Zahid Hussain Khemptio for booking them in the FIRs because they have taken the matter of non-payment of salaries and wages to the Sindh labour department.

In this regard, regional director of the labour department, Nagina Junejo, on November 17 issued a letter to director general of Hyderabad Development Authority and WASA, which is a subsidiary of HDA. The DG and MD were informed that a complaint concerning non-payment of salaries which has been received by the department from representatives of the CBA union.

They were conveyed that the labour inspector will visit their offices for the purpose of inspection and to verify the complaint. The MD WASA told The Express Tribune that he is unaware about the labour department's letter and he denied that the FIRs were a reaction to the said development.

He said, "I time and again requested the union leaders to stop disrupting the drainage system while asking them that they may continue their protest in a peaceful manner."

Published in The Express Tribune, November 21^st, 2021.