NA panel told Gilgit, Sindh and Balochistan being supplied unsafe drinking water

National Assembly Standing Committee on Science and Technology was informed on Wednesday that drinking water in entire Gilgit as well as 80 percent urban areas of Sindh and Balochistan is contaminated and unsafe. The committee met with MNA Sajid Mehdi in chair at the Pakistan Council of Research in Water Resources (PCRWR).
The PCRWR chairman briefed the committee that PCRWR's research budget has not been given for the last two years. He told that PCRWR laboratories all over the country, which have been dormant since 2015, will be functional soon.
Federal Minister for Science and Technology Chaudhry Fawad Hussain said research data is essential to make informed policies and set standards and it is only possible if research laboratories are well-equipped and human resource is well-trained.
The committee was further briefed that the Punjab government spent Rs 880 million during the last five years to provide safe drinking water to the people but the programme failed due to improper planning. The committee recommended that steps should be taken to create liaison between the federation and provinces.
The committee was informed that all companies in the country are providing bottled water while only Qarshi Company is providing mineral water. MNAs including Engr Usman Khan Tarakai, Shoukat Ali Bhatti, Abdul Shakoor Shad, Sobia Kamal Khan, Mukhtar Ahmed Malik, Muhammad Ashraf, Zeb Jaffar, Dr Samina Matloob, Khursheed Ahmed Junejo, Sikandar Ali Rahoupoto and Naveed Aamir Jeeva, and officials of the ministry attended the meeting.