Will send you to jail if Manchar Lake not cleaned up, SC tells irrigation secretary
Will send you to jail if Manchar Lake not cleaned up, SC tells irrigation secretary
KARACHI: The Supreme Court on Tuesday told the Sindh irrigation Secretary Jamal Mustafa he could be sent to jail if Manchar Lake was not cleaned.
A two member-bench of the apex court, chaired by Justice Gulzar Ahmed, was hearing the suo motu case of polluting the lake at the Supreme Court's court's Karachi registry. Officials of the Sindh government along with the irrigation secretary appeared in court.
Mustafa informed the court that work was under way to clean the lake and the progress would soon be noticeable.
Justice Ahmed observed that the provincial government was unable to provide potable drinking water to residents of Sindh despite spending trillions of rupees. "Departments of the Sindh government want the people to continue dying under the same circumstances," he said.
He further said that a probe into the matter was sure to reveal that the Sindh government must not have spent even a single rupee. "Since the past twenty years, projects are under way however not a single drop of potable water has been provided [to the residents of Sindh]," Justice Ahmed said.
Expressing his anger at the lack of results, he said responsible officials would be sent to jail if there was no progress in the matter.
"Turkey has managed to clean the entire sea yet you have been unable to do anything," Justice Ahmed lashed out at the government officials.
He noted that fish were dying due to pollution and the poultry industry would see its demise soon if the situation persisted. "Humans are roaming around like cattle in Sindh. Who will protect them?"
The court noted that the provincial government would be held accountable for spending the tax money in the past 20 years.
There has been no progress in the case since the past eight years, Justice Ahmed said, adding that the country could have benefitted from water from the 2010 flood for the next ten years had it been stored.
"Where will the water be stored in case of rains?" the justice inquired.
"Has the Sindh government even planted a single tree? The world will also not have mercy on us if we continue in this manner," Justice Ahmed said.
The apex court then ordered the Sindh government to provide a detailed report on Manchar lake within two weeks.
The report is to include details of the funds issued for the lake and the actual amount spent on the lake. The provincial government will also include in the report the estimated date by when the lake's water will be potable.
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