Clean water bill waits to become law

LAHORE: The Aab-e-Pak Authority bill, despite being passed by the Punjab Assembly, has not been sent to the governor’s office for final approval so far.

The bill has been pending with the office of Speaker Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi for almost a month. Governor Chaudhry Muhammad Sarwar will lead the Aab-e-Pak Authority in Punjab once the bill is signed into a law by him.

Aab-e-Pak is a project meant to ensure provision of clean drinking water to people in the province. The governor was to receive an approval from the Punjab Assembly to lead the water authority, in which he succeeded as the House passed the bill in March 2019.

Article 116 of the Constitution states that when a bill is passed by the provincial assembly, it should be presented to the governor’s office, who within 10 days, should assent the bill or return it to the PA in case he has any objection over it. However, the Governor’s office is yet to receive the bill despite its last month.

Punjab Assembly Secretary Muhammad Khan Bhatti, while talking to The News, said there had been nothing intentional in delay of the bill. He said there were different requirements and legal procedure that had to be followed for sending any bill to the Governor’s office for approval. He said the bill was still under consideration in the law branch of the assembly and would be sent to the Governor’s office soon.