ISLAMABAD: The Chief Justice of Pakistan, Justice Anwar Zaheer Jamali, on Wednesday remarked whether we’ll keep on living by begging as our country is being run by acquiring loans. A three-member bench of the apex court, headed by Chief Justice Anwar Zaheer Jamali, heard a suo moto case on environmental pollution.The court directed the Federation and four provincial governments to submit a comprehensive report on the steps taken to overcome the environmental pollution emanating from various sources in the country. In pursuance to the court’s earlier directives, additional advocate generals (AAG) of the four provinces submitted reports in the matter. The chief justice, however, expressed dissatisfaction over the reports declaring them a mere eyewash and observed that no concrete steps had been taken to address the worsening environment condition in Pakistan since 2003. On Wednesday, the court, during the course of hearing, questioned as to whether it should leave the poor masses on the mercy of the government over its bad governance, adding that at first the government borrows money for completion of a project, then again for making the project operational. During the hearing, the CJ observed: “We cannot leave the people at your mercy by keeping ourselves unconcerned to the bad governance. We will not do so. The development projects of 1992 pertaining to Sindh are still on papers only and work has not been started on them. “Quetta is still arid and lacklustre like the past. The Sindh government should give in writing that it does not need any guidance from the court. For how long we will go on hearing cases of bad governance. Municipal departments are stuffed with ghost employees. Only beautiful maps have been drawn rather than doing any work. There are such areas in Sindh that are incomprehensible to us; how the people are alive there despite environmental pollution at such large scale.” Justice Ejaz Afzal remarked: “The government which is running on the tax revenue of the people is throwing dust in the eyes of the people on public welfare-related matters. There is battalion upon battalion of sanitary workers, but who will do the job of cleanliness? Governments close their eyes rather than doing something.” The Punjab government presented the report. Advocate General Punjab Razzaq A Mirza told the court that the Punjab government had appointed 36 magistrates so that persons found involved in polluting environment could be punished. Justice Ejaz remarked: “One cannot cross the River Ravi bridge without covering one’s nose with cloth. Why a treatment plant is not installed for cleanliness of the Ravi? Why we don’t adopt the cleanliness norms of the West?” Ayyaz Swati told the court on the behalf of the Balochistan government that use of smoke emitting rickshaws had been stopped in Quetta and the rickshaws were now running on CNG. Seventy-nine brick kilns had been shifted outside Quetta city. The CJ remarked: “Quetta still gives the same barren sight it presented earlier. Tell us how many trees you have planted. I have not even seen shrubs in Quetta.” The Sindh AAG informed the court that the provincial government had issued notices to various industries over the emanating pollution. The CJ remarked burning heaps of filth abounds in Karachi, emitting pollution in the city every morning. A member of the bench observed should the bench personally visit every nock and corner of Karachi for issuance of orders to clean the spots. The KP AAG informed the court that a billion tree tsunami scheme had been launched in the province to which the CJ observed tsunami was meant for disaster. “Does the government intends to ruin the trees in the province?” Later, the court adjourned the hearing till January 2016 and sought reports from the Federation and the four provincial governments on the matter.
