Staff Reporter Islamabad The Supreme Court, hearing a suo motu case on the shortage of clean drinking water in Balochistan’s Bhagnari area on Friday, formed a commission tasked with coming up with recommendations for ending the shortage.
Chief Justice of Pakistan Mian Saqib Nisar had taken suo motu notice of the non-availability of pure and safe drinking water to the people of Bhagnari, Bolan.
Justice Nisar asked the deputy commissioner Bolan if the video played in court was authentic, to which the latter replied in the affirmative.The DC said that all the problems in the area were due to a shortage of water, and added that an RO plant would be set up there in two months.
Residents of Bhagnari, who appeared in court, told the bench that their situation is “even worse than Thar”.
“Only one road leads to Bhagnari, and it is an hour’s journey,” they said.
“Even in Thar, no one seems ready to drink water from an RO plant,” Justice Nisar, who had recently visited the area, said.
He wondered why a development authority had not been formed for Thar, and directed the Sindh advocate general to ask the chief minister to form a Thar Development Authority.
“All the money goes into salaries.
Do you know how much their directors’ salaries are?
“I will summon the Balochistan chief minister, I will summon the entire cabinet if I have to.”The court formed a two-member commission headed by Supreme Court Bar Association President Amanullah Kanrani.