Show-cause notices issued to industries secretary, additional health secretary

Judicial commission seeks replies of officials on waste disposal
latest by today after the January 30 deadline lapsed

Judicial commission looking into the city’s water and sanitation issues, on Tuesday, issued show cause notices to secretary industries and additional secretary health for not complying with the commission’s orders. They were told to submit their respective replies today.

Headed by Justice Mohammad Iqbal Kalhoro, the commission was probing the provincial administration’s failure to provide clean drinking water, sanitation and healthy environment to the people.

 Additional secretary health Jamaluddin was directed by the commission to submit details of water supply schemes for province’s government hospitals and their waste management system. He was also directed to submit a breakdown of expenditures incurred on the waste disposal system by the department for hospitals over the last five years. Whether hospital waste management rules, 2014 were abided by in letter and spirit or not, by both the government and private hospitals, was also asked to be looked into.

The commission observed that the secretary industries was also directed to submit a comprehensive report on January 30 regarding the mode and manner of waste disposal followed by industries all over Sindh, roles and responsibility of the department looking after the waste disposal system, resources to monitor disposal of industrial effluent, finances spent on each resource and the action, if any, taken against an industry for violation of laws.   

The commission observed that both officers did not file their respective comments despite the orders.

The commission issued show cause notices to secretary industries and additional secretary health to appear before commission and sought their respective replies by February 1 (today).

The commission also directed managing director of the Sindh Environment Protection Agency, MD SITE and MD KWSB to submit their statements. 

A report of samples of effluent taken from combined treatment plant Kotri was also submitted before the commission which was also taken on record.