SHC puts MPA, MNA on notice over ‘tanker mafia case’

Petitioner moves court to address water supply issues

HYDERABAD:

As the citizens of Jamshoro suffer at the hands of tanker mafia by paying exorbitant rates for water supply and loss of human lives in road accidents, a petitioner has pleaded the Sindh High Court to address the problem.

The SHC Hyderabad circuit bench, on a petition filed by Aijaz Hussain Jatoi, has put MNA Sikandar Rahupoto, MPA Gianchand Essarani, former Deputy Commissioner Fariududdin Mustafa and other officers, including from Public Health Engineering Department, on notice.

The petitioner claimed that around 100 children alone have been killed in the road accidents caused by the tankers in Jamshoro. He maintained that the tankers' drivers moved around the city in their unfit vehicles in a reckless manner in order to maximize the number of visits for the water supply.

He said the need of the tanker supplied water is felt because the local authorities have failed to supply filtered water through pipelines to many residential localities. The tankers, on the other hand, raw water for domestic use and human consumption. They lift water from the hydrants installed at KB Feeder canal, which supplies water to Karachi and Keenjhar lake.

According to him, many water supply schemes either exist in record or have been left incomplete because of which the residents are compelled to meet their water needs by becoming a prey to the alleged tanker mafia. He claimed that the district administration had fixed rates of Rs600 to Rs800 per tanker but the tankers in violation of the government fixed rates have been charging three to four times higher.

The bench asked the petitioner to explain why an MNA and an MPA have been cited as respondents in the case. He replied that those lawmakers take the decisions for expenditure of the funds in many parts of Jamshoro.

He said if the residential areas can be supplied filtered water through pipelines, invaluable human lives lost in the road accidents could be saved and the people will also no longer be dependent on the tanker mafia.

 

Published in The Express Tribune, October 17^th, 2022.