ISLAMABAD:
The Supreme Court has issued a notice to Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Advocate General in a suo motu case regarding supply of contaminated water from Khanpur Dam.
During the hearing of the case, the Water and Power Development Authority’s (WAPDA) lawyer, Hasan Raza, informed a Constitutional Bench (CB) of the Supreme Court that Khanpur Dam is the only source of water for about five million people.
“However, the pollution at the dam has increased due to the increasing number of boats operating in the reservoir,” he told the bench headed by Justice Amin-ud-Din Khan.
According to the lawyer, previously only 20 boats sailed on the dam, but their number has now reached 326, while six recreational resorts have also been established along the reservoir.
Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhail observed that since the PHA department also exists, there should be a defined policy regarding this matter. Justice Shakeel Ahmad noted that the dam administration has the power to ban motor boats, which are the apparent cause of the pollution.
Justice Aamer Farooq asked how these boats were operated without proper permission.
The WAPDA lawyer said a petition had been filed before a judge but the situation worsened after Khanpur was given the status of a tehsil. When Justice Amin-ud-Din Khan asked for 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.
