Sindh High Court (SHC) on Tuesday directed the Sindh government to inform it about the measures taken to counter predicted heat-wave in the province. The SHC bench headed by Chief Justice Sajjad Ali Shah issued this directive while hearing the petition, filed by civil rights campaigners who sought action against those responsible for supply of water and electricity for their failure to ensure uninterrupted supply during the days of heat-wave in Karachi last year.
In Tuesday's hearing, the counsel of National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA) submitted the report which stated that K-Electric (KE) was fined Rs 10 million for its failure to supply electricity to citizens. The petitioner requested the court to ask the government what measures were being taken to overcome expected heat-wave in the province.
The court directed advocate general Sindh to inform the court in the next hearing about the government's efforts to counter the heat-wave, predicted by Pakistan Meteorological Department. Earlier, the petitioners submitted that the authorities had failed to discharge their constitutional duties. They alleged that an artificial water crisis was created with malafide intentions at the behest of the tanker mafia who sold water at exorbitant rates. They requested the court to declare that the government was bound to provide basic facilities to the people, including water and power.