ISLAMABAD:
The Supreme Court has issued notice to the Advocate General of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (KP) in a suo motu case regarding supply of contaminated water from Khanpur Dam.
During the hearing of the case, Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA) lawyer Hasan Raza informed a constitutional bench (CB) of the Supreme Court that the Khanpur dam is the only source of water for around five million people.
“However, pollution in the dam has increased due to the increasing number of ships operating in the reservoir,” he told the bench headed by Justice Amin-ud-Din Khan.
According to the lawyer, previously only 20 boats operated in the dam, but now their number has reached 326, while six recreational centers have also been established along the reservoir.
Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhail commented that since the PHA Department also exists, there should be a definite policy in this regard. Justice Shakeel Ahmad observed that the dam management has the authority to ban motor boats, which are the apparent cause of the pollution.
Justice Aamer Farooq asked how these boats were being operated without proper authorisation.
The WAPDA lawyer said a petition had been filed before a magistrate but the situation worsened after Khanpur was granted tehsil status. When Justice Amin-ud-Din Khan asked about an alternative solution, the WAPDA lawyer suggested that the use of electric boats could help eliminate pollution.
The court subsequently adjourned the hearing indefinitely. Khanpur Dam is located on the Haro River in Khanpur tehsil of Haripur district of KP, about 50 km from Islamabad.
It forms Khanpur Lake, a reservoir that supplies drinking water to Islamabad and Rawalpindi.
