KARACHI - The Supreme Court-mandated water commission on Tuesday rejected the report of the Defence Housing Authority (DHA) on release of sewerage water into the sea and showed its resentment over submission of an old report.

The Justice (Retired) Amir Muslim Hani-led commission expressed its dissatisfaction with the DHA report and said the authority was not concerned about lives of people who were prone to dangers due to release of sewerage water into sea.

The commission also summoned the defence secretary over non-compliance of its orders by DHA. “If the defence secretary does not appear before the commission, we will move the Supreme Court as the commission is working under its directives,” the commission said. The commission observed that DHA is not taking the proceedings seriously and this is evident from the absence of officials of DHA from the commission proceedings. The commission put off the hearing until May 21.

Earlier, the commission came down hard on officials of the Defence Housing Authority over disposal of untreated sewage into the sea and directed them to submit the original plan of the DHA and details of the operational and planned sewage treatment plants. Justice (Retired) Amir Hani Muslim said that during his recent visit he noticed four points around Seaview beach where untreated sewage was allowed to fall into the sea, polluting the beach. The commission inquired about the town planning and treatment plants when an additional director of engineering projects and an adviser on the DHA projects appeared before it.

The commission had asked under what law the untreated sewage was being released into the sea. At one stage, the commission said the defence secretary could be summoned over pollution on the beach and directed an official of the Pakistan Council for Research in Water Resources to collect samples from all the four points for an analysis after the DHA officials insisted that it was not sewage but storm-drain water.

The commission directed the officials to produce the original plan of the DHA with details about the areas where treatment plants were planned to be installed.

The commission expressed displeasure over utilisation of parking lots of buildings for commercial and residential purposes and parking vehicles outside the buildings. It ordered the director general of the Sindh Building Control Authority (SBCA) and the cantonment boards to ensure in their jurisdictions that parking lots must not be used for purposes other than parking.