HYDERABAD: A one-man judicial commission appointed by the Supreme Court to check quality of water being supplied to people in Sindh has directed the task force concerned to look into the affairs of the Sindh Environmental Protection Agency (Sepa) and identify the causes of its failure. It told it to suggest remedial measures to make Sepa a result-oriented organisation.

The commission ordered that an analysis of water quality, by Pakistan Council of Research in Water Resources (PCRWR), be made available to all government hospitals.

The commission headed by Justice Mohammad Iqbal Kalhoro passed the directives on Saturday at its proceedings in Karachi.

Sepa`s Additional Director General Syed Mohammad Yahya submitted a report in the commission stating that his institution had referred cases of26industrialunits torelevant tribunal so far for prosecution. When the commission confronted him with the fact that thousands of factories were working in violation of the Sindh Environmental Protection Act, 2014 and Sepa was able to identify only 26 units for prosecution, the officer could not offer a reply.The commission observed that Sepa was an important organisation but it had not been able to perform exceptionally, therefore, chairman of the task force should look into its affairs and identify causes of its failure.

Dr Ghulam Murtaza, a member of task force and a researcher at the PCRWR, informed the commission that water being provided from the filter plant located on Jamshoro Road in Hyderabad was safe only in terms of `chemical parameters` while in terms of physical and microbiological parameters, it was unsafe.

The commission directed the Water and Sanitation Agency (Wasa), Hyderabad, managing director to improve quality of water and submit his report.

Dr Murtaza also submitted a report containing suggestions for treating effluent at Darya Khan pumping station, Hyderabad. A copy of the report was provided to Wasa`s MD and Sepa`s additional MD for their perusal and reply.

Dr Murtaza proposed that since effluent was being discharged by industries, therefore they should be taken in the loop for treating industrial waste. On his proposal, the commission asl(ed the officials concerned to submit a report in this connection on the next date of hearing after examining the proposal.

Dr Murtaza also informed the commissionthat during his visit to the Larkana Institute of Nuclear Medicine and Radiotherapy (Linar) he came to know that water being provided for human consumption was unsafe due to chemical and microbiological contamination and the area where the water tank was located was affected by unhygienic conditions. The commission issued a notice to Linar Director Siraj Ahmed Abbasi asking him to appear in the commission on the next date of hearing.

Filter plants The PCRWR officer told the commission that filtration plants in Umerkot and Jati (Thatta) were lying non-functional although it was earlier claimed that the Umerkot filtration plant was functional. Justice Kalhoro observed that he had visited the said plant and found it nonfunctional for want of electricity connection only. Power supply was later provided to it under a directive of the commission in January.

The commission observed that it was shocking to note that the said plant was still nonfunctional which indicated lethargy, apathy and negligence of officials concerned. The commission issued a show-cause notice to the officialincharge ofthe plantandchiefengineerof the Public Health Engineering Department(PHED), asking them to explain why it was not made functional so far and why action should not be taken against them.

Health Secretary Fazlullah Pechuho proposed that the PCRWR be tasked with checking water quality at government hospitals acrossSindhasanindependentbody.

The commission assigned the task to Dr Ghulam Murtaza and the health secretary undertook to make payment to PCRWR for the services to be rendered by the organisation.

The commission said that this arrangement should continue till further orders.

Incinerators and RO plants Mr Pechuho informed the commission that out of 17 new incinerators, three had been procured to be installed in the district hospitals of Shikarpur, Naushahro Feroze and Badin.

The commission was informed that in Badin, six reverse osmosis plants were installed with an accumulative capacity of 600,000 gallons per day against which only 40,000-50,000 gallons of water was being produced every day and that too was stored in a very small water tank. People from different areas ofthe city traveltothe plantsite tofetch water. The commission directed secretaries ofthe local government and PHED to sit together and devise a strategy to ensure that people of Badin could get maximum benefit from this filter plant. These officers would submit a comprehensive report in this regard on the next date of hearing.

Hydrants Sindh Additional Advocate General Sarwar Khan stated before the judge that in terms of Section 16 of the Karachi Water and Sewerage Board Act, 1996, the regulation for adequately and systematically operating water hydrants was drafted by the board and submitted to the chief minister. He said that since the cabinet meeting was not held, necessary approval could not be obtained. The AAG also sought time to submit a report on a master plan prepared by the task force for preventing flow of effluent into water bodies.

Assistant Attorney General Mohammad Shoaib submitted a compliance report in line with para-3 of the commission`s Sept 16 order regarding unhygienic conditions at the Karachi Institute of Radiotherapy & Nuclear Medicine (Kiran Hospital). His report suggested that some improvement was seen though a lot had to be done. The hearing was adjourned to Oct 21.