Civil judge and judicial magistrate of Nagarparkar Syed Karam Ali Shah on Monday issued notices to the concerned government functionaries and officials of a private company for failing to provide drinking water to the residents of the Parkar region. The judge issued the notices to officials to appear in his court on 18 January to clarify their position on the water crisis in the region.
Two residents of the region, Arif Khoso and Shad Mohammad Mehar, had filed an application in the court seeking justice for the drought-hit people of the region. They stated that the residents as well as their livestock had been deprived of drinking water and demanded action against the officials for their allegedly callous and indifferent attitude towards their plight. They said that the officials had not bothered to provide them with canal water through the pipeline or through the Reverse Osmosis (RO) plants by putting them into operation. The applicants complained that authorities had spent billions on waterworks in the region, but the people were being deprived of even drinking water through such faulty schemes.
Notices were issued to executive engineers of the public health engineering department Tharparkar and the officials of Oslo Lighting Solution company, a private company. They are to appear in court on 18 January.
For the same date, the judge also issued notices to the Town Officer, Assistant Commissioner, District Health Officer, Assistant Director of Environment and Climate Change, Director Industries and Commerce Tharparkar and others to seek their detailed report on the issue of the drinking water and its quality, which the people were forced to drink under the given situation.
Moreover, the judge went on to direct police officials to ensure the presence of those who had been asked to appear in the court.
Speaking to the media, the applicants said that they filed their application under section 133 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) after officials failed to provide them with safe drinking water and thus they were forced to consume the contaminated water of wells. They said that before the elections, PPP leaders including local MPA Qasim Siraj Soomro and others had promised to provide them with safe drinking water – both from the “existing RO plant” and through the pipeline. The applicants alleged that PPP candidates got votes on such false promises before the 2018 polls, and kept promising to provide water, but never delivered on this.
According to the applicants, the contractors – who were given the contracts on revised rates – time and again use substandard material, due to which a pipeline burst when canal water was pumped into it. They also held MPA Soomro responsible for his alleged patronage to the corrupt contractors, who were yet to complete the scheme despite getting huge amounts in public funds.
