ISLAMABAD: In a bid to make Sindh’s Manchar Lake contamination-free, the Supreme Court on Monday sought details within two weeks from the Ministry of Finance for provision of funds.
On the outset of the hearing, Additional Attorney General KK Agha submitted before a bench headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry that the finance ministry had earlier introduced a project for the construction of the RBOD (Right Bank Outfall Drain) lake.
Five billion rupees have been allocated for the project. Out of the Rs1.5 billion the ministry was supposed to release between July and September, only Rs26 million have been provided, Agha said.
He told the court he would contact the ministry to seek the release of more funds and sought more time to do so.
A joint report prepared by the Government of Sindh, Water and Power Development Authority’s (Wapda) and the irrigation department about the project was presented before the bench during the hearing.
According to the report, the provincial government will install 12 filtration plants at the lake by December, for which Rs24 million have been released by the Sindh government.
As a result of the heavy rain in Sindh, the water contained in the lake has been naturally cleaned and will remain so for the period of one year, the report added.
At the last hearing of the suo motu case, the apex court was told that a sum of Rs29 billion would be required to rid the lake of contaminated water.
Published in The Express Tribune, September 20th, 2011.
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