Murky water in Chaklala: PAF given 10 days to replace pipelines

Court also directed the PAF authorities not to charge water consumers extra for the replacement of pipelines.

RAWALPINDI:

A consumer court on Tuesday directed Pakistan Air Force (PAF) authorities to change the water supply pipelines in the residential area of PAF Chaklala within 10 days. The action was taken after a resident filed a complaint about the supply of unhygienic drinking water.

Consumer Court Judge Sohail Nasir also directed the PAF authorities not to charge water consumers extra for the replacement of pipelines as the latter already pay water charges.

Sharing details of the case with The Express Tribune, District Consumer Protection Council focal person Idrees Randhawa said Wing Commander Raja Hassan Pervaiz appeared in court and assured that the pipes would be changed.

On Monday, the consumer court had summoned the air force officer to respond to a complaint filed by Abdul Qadoos.

The PAF sought one month and permission to collect the cost of pipeline replacement from water users, but the court only gave 10 days for replacement and did not allow any additional charges to be collected.

The judge observed that water users were consumers and the PAF authorities were a service provider and had already been collecting water charges for this reason.

Earlier, the consumer judge formed a committee comprising officials from Water and Sanitation Agency (WASA) and district public health to examine the water quality at the PAF base.

The committee reported that the drinking water supplied to residents was not of acceptable quality after they checked samples from seven different houses in the locality.

The committee further said that drinking water supply lines in the area pass by sewerage lines and cross contamination could lead to hepatitis and other waterborne diseases.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 14^th, 2012.