Islamabad: In a landmark decision, Pakistan’s Supreme Court on Saturday imposed a levy of Re1 for every litre of surface water extracted by firms selling mineral water and beverages, the media reported. The judgment was issued on a suo motu case pertaining to selling by the companies of water extracted from underground sources without any charge and the quality and fitness of the same for human consumption, Dawn newspaper reported.
The revenue so collected will used for construction of the Diamer-Bhasha and Mohmand dams. Authored by Chief Justice Saqib Nisar, the judgment also required the provincial governments and the Islamabad Capital Territory administration to set up separate and distinct accounts to receive the amounts collected under the water charges, the report said.
The amounts will then be deposited in the dams fund already created by the apex court. The court made it clear the funds so collected would not be diverted in any circumstances to any other purpose other than construction of dams and water-related activities.
However, once the dams are constructed, the provincial governments, subject to the order of the apex court, will be at a liberty to utilise the funds collected in the accounts, the judgment said. The court also constituted a special committee, headed by Prof Dr Mohammad Ahsan Siddiqui and comprising representatives of the provincial chief secretaries, director generals of the federal and provincial environmental protection agencies, to devise a mechanism for calculation, collection and monitoring of the recovery of charges from major industries consuming water.
