"Whether it takes water tankers, Katas Raj pond must be refilled," CJP orders factories

LAHORE: Chief Justic Saqib Nisar on Friday sternly ordered the cement factories’ owners to refill the pond of Katas Raj temple at all costs.

At Lahore registry of the Supreme Court, the chief justice while hearing a suo motu case pertaining to the unlawful water utilization of Katas Raj Temple pond, directed the respondents to fill up the pond again, “even if it takes tankers to transport the required water to the dried pond,” he stressed.

A day earlier, the Supreme Court during the hearing, constituted a committee to inspect cement factories sucking underground water of Katas Raj temple in the Potohar area of Rawalpindi division through drill bores.

The court ordered during the hearing that the head of the newly-formed team will be a member of the Supreme Court.

The chief justice of Pakistan (CJP) said the samples of water from cement factories pond will also be sent to the laboratory for test.

He asked the authorities concerned to inform whether it was an underground water or rainwater used by the cement factories.

The CJP ordered the deputy commissioner of police to cooperate with the team and asked the officer to immediately file a case against anyone attempting to impede the investigation.

He stated that the court also previously didn’t order registration of FIR against owners of cement factories. First, our team will probe the case and the next decision will be taken in the light of investigation results, he added.