Court freezes WASA accounts in land payment dispute

5,500 kanals of land was acquired to install sewage treatment plant

RAWALPINDI:

A senior civil judge on Thursday issued a decree against the non-payment of the additional award amount of Rs225 million for 5,500 kanals of land, freezing all the bank accounts of the Water and Sanitation Agency (Wasa). The Punjab government acquired land in 2019 for a sewage treatment plant in the Gorakhpur area of Adiala.

Wasa employees are facing difficulties in payment of salaries, electricity bills and other expenses.

The Punjab government acquired 5,500 kanals of land from the locals to install a sewage treatment plant on the said site and handed over its possession to Wasa. However, even after 16 years, the sewage treatment plant could not be installed on the site and Wasa simply is monitoring this land at its own expense.

Under the project, the sewage from Rawalpindi's Nullah Leh to Gorakhpur had to be taken through Swan River with the help of sewerage trunks, clean the sewage from the sewage treatment plant and obtain clean water for irrigation.

The owners of the said lands first received the amount according to the agreed rate, but later demanded more payments under the revised and increased award while considering the rate was low in the first deal. The landowners moved their case to different courts.

During the hearing, the senior civil judge, Javed Iqbal justified the position of the land owners and issued a formal order to pay the land owners an additional Rs225m according to the increased award besides freezing all bank Wasa accounts. All banks following the directives of the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) stopped payments on cheques sent by Wasa. The non-clearance of cheques forced the Wasa authorities to stop salaries to its employees and halt other expenditures.

Wasa Managing Director Muhammad Salim Ashraf says the land was acquired by the Punjab government for the sewage treatment plant in 2009 and handed over to Wasa.

The payment to the landowners was made by the Punjab government which had to pay the award of additional money. "Wasa has already moved a summary to the government that additional money should be paid to the landowners as per the court orders," he added.