The Supreme Court has directed Pakistan Environment Protection Agency (EPA) Director General Farzana Altaf Shah and Human Rights Cell Director General Khalid Teepu Rana to submit a report regarding the industrial units in Islamabad in the next five days.
A three-member bench headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan Justice Saqib Nisar was hearing case pertaining to environmental pollution in the federal capital on Friday.
During the hearing, Justice Nisar inquired, if steps have been taken to curb industrial pollution.
To this, the DG EPA said, no steps have been taken to stop industrial pollution.
“We are not even allowed to conduct an inspection,” Shah said.
Commenting on Shah’s statement, the chief justice remarked, “Mill owners don’t know about the power of SC.”
He added that mill owners were playing with the lives of people, by the pollution caused by their mills and factories.
“We will take Rs5 million from them as security,” he remarked.
DG EPA further said, “Mill owners have made us from watchdogs to just dogs.”
To this, Justice Nisar said, “Those who have not submitted the security deposit, will have to pay 8 per cent mark-up on security, which will be put into the dam fund.”
The court then adjourned the hearing till September 24 and directed the authorities concerned, present at the hearing, to conduct an inspection and submit a report within the next five days.
Details have also been sought on the number of active industrial units and a count of factories and mills where measures have not yet been taken to curb pollution. Further, the court said, a detailed report is sought so that the situation can become clearer.
Published in Daily Times, September 15th 2018.
