Sindh CM, PSP chairman appear before SC in water, air pollution case

Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah and Pak Sarzameen Party Chairman Mustafa Kamal appeared on Wednesday before the Supreme Court’s Karachi registry, pertaining to the air and water pollution case.

A three member bench headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan Justice Mian Saqib Nasir, including Justice Faisal Arab and Justice Sajjad Ali Shah, is hearing the case. During the hearing, which is still in process, a short video by petitioner Shahab Usto was shown in court for which a projector was set up.

Justice Nasir told the chief minister that he had been summoned so that they can resolve the troublesome water situation in the province. He added that it was the primary duty of the government to provide safe and clean drinking water to residents, a local media reported.

SC seeks presence of Sindh CM in water, air pollution case

The former mayor Kamal has been called by the court for his alleged involvement in illegal allotment of land meant for critically needed water treatment plant as residential plots in the coastal city.

The court had summoned both Kamal and Shah for the hearing. "This is a matter of people's lives, it cannot be ignored. The chief minister will be asked about all the steps he has taken in this regard," the three-member bench, headed by Chief Justice Nasir, had observed on Monday.

Advocate Shahab Usto, who filed the petition, had said that people in 29 districts across the province are drinking contaminated water. He added that the water in Karachi is 80 percent contaminated while in Shikarpur, Hyderabad, Larkana, the percent of contaminated water falls above 75.

During the previous hearing, Justice Nisar had said that if the issue is not resolved this way, then the court will issue orders. "We can't stay quiet over the prevailing danger to human lives," he added.