LAHORE: The Supreme Court on Saturday asked Punjab Chief Minister ShahbazSharif to appear today in a case pertaining to non-provision of potablewater in the province.

Headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan Mian Saqib Nisar, a three-judge benchsummoned the chief minister during the hearing of a suo motu casepertaining to the supply of contaminated drinking water in the province.

The bench was informed that around 540 million gallons of polluted waterwas being dumped into Ravi river daily.

The chief justice remarked that Lahore, which is the heart of Pakistan, wasbeing meted out such treatment, let alone other cities.

He asked the Punjab chief minister to immediately appear before the courtto explain what measures his government has taken to ensure drainage ofsewage in the city.

At the previous hearing, the chief justice asked the Punjab chief secretaryto explain where hefty amount earmarked for provision of potable water wasbeing spent.

According to a report submitted by the Pakistan Council of Scientific andIndustrial Research (PCSIR), water samples collected from the chiefjustice’s chamber were found to be contaminated.

CJP Nisar threatened to issue a stay order against the Punjab government’sOrange Line Metro Train project, if it didn’t improve healthcare andeducational facilities.

If Sindh Chief Minister could be summoned to the court, why can’t be PunjabChief Minister Shahbaz Sharif to respond to the court’s queries, he asked.

During the hearing, CJP asked the chief secretary to explain as to how manynew medical facilities were established in the past ten years and why theprovincial government has not set its priorities?

The people were being made to drink water contaminated with arsenic andother poisonous chemicals, he observed.

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