LAHORE - Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif has said provision of clean drinking water is of utmost importance for protecting the people from epidemic diseases and the provincial government is taking effective steps in this regard. He expressed these views while presiding over a high level meeting with regard to provision of potable water to the people at CMs Secretariat on Saturday, which reviewed the progress of installation of water filtration plants project of federal govt in Punjab. Senior Advisor Zulfiqar Ali Khan Khosa, Provincial Minister for Local Government Sardar Dost Muhammad Khan Khosa, the chief secretary, chairman planning and development, secretaries of local government and finance departments, project coordinator and other concerned officials attended the meeting. The chief minister said provision of clean drinking water was the responsibility of the government and it had attached priority to it. He said the situation of provision of water in cities particularly in the rural areas was deplorable and people were forced to drink polluted water. He said If we did not reform the sector of provision of clean drinking water, the coming generations will never forgive us. Punjab govt rejects Babar's allegations A spokesman of Punjab government has strongly contradicted the statement of federal law minister that a grant of Rs 50 million has been given to any lawyer by the Punjab government. He said statement of Babar Awan is baseless, irresponsible and misleading, says a handout. In a statement issued on Saturday, the spokesman said Babar Awan had issued this statement after the criticism by national circles, against him after coming to surface the distribution of crores of rupees for his special gains from government exchequer. He said the statement of federal law minister reflected that he could go to any extent for achieving his political and parochial designs. Due to irresponsible attitude, Babar Awan had lost his credibility among the political and journalistic circles and no importance was being given to his statements, the spokesman concluded.