Hearing a suo motu case pertaining to rehabilitation, preservation and making the Manchar Lake pollution-free, Justice Sarmad Jalal Osmany on Tuesday observed that the prime minister’s visits abroad cost the national exchequer heavily whereas funds were not being provided to supply clean drinking water to the people. He passed the remarks while sitting in a three-member Supreme Court bench headed by Justice Mian Shakirullah Jan and also comprising Justice Jawwad S Khawaja.
Earlier, the Sindh Irrigation Department additional secretary told the court that they had requested the federal government to release Rs 5 billion out of the total estimated cost of Rs 29 billion to complete the Manchar Lake’s rehabilitation project. However, he said they were still waiting for the federal government’s response. The bench directed the provincial and federal governments as well as the WAPDA and Sindh Irrigation Department to submit today (Wednesday) a comprehensive progress report over the issue.
To a query, the additional secretary said the completion date of the project was August 30 for which the Sindh government had already provided the funds, adding that around 60 percent of work on RDB-II had been completed while they had sent a request to the federal government for carrying out the rest of the work. Justice Osmany noted that it was incomprehensible what had been happening with the Manchar Lake, adding that concerted efforts were required to preserve the natural water reservoirs. Appearing on notice, Additional Attorney General KK Agha told the bench that the WAPDA and Sindh government had already released Rs 6 billion for supply of clean drinking water to fishermen and to improve their living conditions.
During the last hearing, the WAPDA had submitted a report stating that it was taking steps to install three desalination plants to provide drinking water to about 5,000 fishermen in the area. The report had said that a single plant had the capacity to purify 5,000 gallons per day and about 5,000 fishermen would get potable drinking water at their doorsteps.
The court had taken suo motu notice on reports that the Manchar Lake in Dadu, the largest freshwater reserve in Asia, was heading towards a disaster as a result of the effluents being dumped in the reservoir and alarming level of pollution that was posing a threat to the ecosystem.
According to reports, pollution had forced the Mohanas, the fisherman living around the lake and one of the oldest inhabitants of Sindh with a unique lifestyle of residing in boats, to abandon their profession which added to poverty and unemployment in the area. These people, who mainly rely on fishing and related business, bird hunting and farming, have suffered the most because of the polluted Manchar Lake.