PHC summons officials for not keeping canals clean

PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court (PHC) has summoned chief secretary and other senior officials in contempt of court petition for not taking practical steps to stop gutters and drains water and filth from falling into the city’s canals as per the court decision.

A division bench comprising Justice Qaiser Rashid Khan and Justice Muhammad Ayub Khan issued the notice to chief secretary, secretary Irrigation Department, chief executive officer, Water and Sanitation Services Peshawar and director general Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The officials were directed to appear and explain as to why the court’s decision about stopping the filth, gutters and drains water from falling into the city canals was not implemented. “Piles of waste are seen in different places of the city and there is no one to pick the waste and properly dump it,” Justice Qaiser Rashid Khan observed while hearing a writ petition filed for the cleanliness of the canal which passes through the city and has become filthy. The judge remarked that if the WSSP cannot do the job, it should leave the cleanliness job to some other department to keep the city clean. The bench was hearing a case about compliance and implementation of the high court decision passed in 2017 in a petition filed by Shoaib Jally, a senior advocate. In the petition, he pointed out that five canals flow through Peshawar but these canals have become filthy due to the lax attitude of the departments concerned. The petitioner said people use the canals as dumping grounds. The high court, on the recommendations of a special committee, had passed the judgment and directed the departments concerned to implement the order by taking strict measures to prevent the waste and drain water of the city from falling into the canals.