It’s almost a decade now that Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) is ruling the province of Sindh without any significant hindrance from anti-democratic forces. However, the party has achieved nothing of vital importance as far as the provision of social services to people is concerned. To gauge party’s performance, one reaches the conclusion that PPP has set a high bar of absolute failure that other provincial governments can hardly achieve. One example that shows the abject performance of the party is its failure to provide the people with one of the most fundamental needs of human life: clean drinking water. Media reports, as well as other research and academic texts, suggest that in most of the cities and villages in Sindh, safe drinking water is not available to the people. Surely, celebrating 50 years of the party was more important than focusing on administration.

Its failures like these, which force the apex judiciary to intervene and issue directions and reprimand the administrative officials for their negligence. In hearing the water pollution case, the Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP), Mian Saqib Nisar, censured the Chief Minister (CM) of Sindh, Murad Ali Shah, for being unable to provide for people’s one of the most fundamental needs. The bench rightly expressed its displeasure on how poor provincial management was. It is a matter of shame for the provincial government that despite in power for the last ten years, it cannot solve one particular problem. No one is gauging PPP’s performance by metro projects or flyovers or underpasses but by how efficiently it delivers on the basic needs of the people.

Maybe the CM Sindh and other PPP officials live on some different planet where no local newspapers carrying reports on water crisis are circulated. Given that CM is a “Jiala” his audacity was not surprising at all when he tried to persuade the bench that the problem was not as acute as it was propagandized. Also, lamenting in front of the CJP that Punjab is facing the same problem but not chided shows the preferential treatment that Sindh receives is a childish approach to avoid accountability.

Though the matter at hand needs an urgent solution, it seems the provincial government in the near future will be unable to overcome the problem. Even the officials of provincial administration admitted to the bench that almost 80% of Sindh population is using polluted and contaminated water. Moreover, Murad Ali Shah’s remarks that overcoming the issue of contaminated water in six months is impossible is nothing but a show of lack of determination and political will. Mr. CM! If it is not possible for you to take care of the problem, please allow someone more willing and determined to provide people with clean drinking water.