Supreme Court asks if funds for treatment plant at Manchar Lake were released. PHOTO: FILE
A three-judge bench, headed by Justice Anwar Zaheer Jamali, took up the suo motu case at the apex court's Karachi Registry. An official of the Right Bank Outfall Drain (RDOB) had complained that the installation of the treatment plant to make the freshwater lake pollution free was lingering as the authorities have yet to release more funds for it.
The then top judge of the country, Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, had taken a suo motu on the contamination of Manchar Lake, fluctuating over a surface area of 300 to 500 square-kilometres with changing seasons, due to effluents being dumped into it. The RDOB official told the court that the project was under way and at least Rs8 billion were needed for its completion.
Meanwhile, the Sindh government's counsel said that the delay in the release of funds was from the federal government, which did not put in its share.
Justice Jamali, after hearing the arguments, observed that Manchar lake was losing its beauty and ecology, and life under water was being tarnished due to the release of toxic wastes. He added that a large number of people who earn their livelihood from the lake were also being affected.
On Wednesday, the bench - comprising justices Jamali, Sarmad Jalal Osmany and Maqbool Baqar - issued notices to the federal water and power secretary, the provincial planning secretary and the provincial finance secretary to submit their replies at the next hearing.
Published in The Express Tribune, June 12th, 2015.
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