PHC seeks reply from WSSP in petition for clean waterBy

PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court (PHC) on Wednesday sought reply from the Water and Sanitation Services, Peshawar, in a writ petition filed for provision of clean drinking water to citizens and ban on substandard mineral water openly used in the province.

A two-member bench comprising Justice Waqar Ahmad Seth and Justice Younas Thaheem directed the WSSP to submit reply within 10 days.

The court also summoned director general Pakistan Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (PCSIR), Peshawar, on October 24, the next hearing in the case.

The court was hearing a writ petition filed by Muhammad Khurshid, a senior lawyer and former deputy attorney general. He had sought the court’s direction for the government to repair the treatment plants installed in Peshawar, ban the use of mineral water of various brands declared as injurious and unsafe drinking water and ban on sewerage water to the city’s canals.

During hearing, the lawyer submitted that as per the Pakistan Council of Research in Water Resources (PCRWR) recent report about Peshawar, it was stated that out of 70 brands of mineral water used here, water of 11 brands were polluted and drinking water of these brands can cause various diseases including those of lungs, kidneys, cancer, blood pressure and hepatitis.

The lawyer said that these substandard and dangerous brands were being openly sold in the market and the government failed to take action against them.