The plight of Katas raj: Is there any hope of revival from the moves of Supreme Court of Pakistan?

In Pakistan, apart from Islam, other religions are vulnerable as well as their religious places. There are a large number of ancient Hindu temples in Pakistan. But there is always a crisis of existence ahead of them because with the majority of the population here, and the government  also reluctant to their security and maintenance due to the influence of fundamentalist Islamic ideology. One such major temple is the Katas Raj situated in Chakwal, Lahore. Katas Raj, also known as Qila Katas, is a Hindu pilgrimage site comprising several temples linked to one another by walkways. The pond is named Katas (Raj temple) after Kataksha, a Sanskrit word meaning ‘tearful eyes’.

Due to the illegal extraction of water on a large scale from the existing pond of the temple premises, the odd water crisis has arisen. Pakistan's Supreme Court has been active for some time on this issue and in this matter on May 2 a three-member SC bench headed by Chief Justice (CJP) Mian Saqib Nisar was hearing a suo motu case based on media reports that the Katas Raj pond is drying out due to water consumption by nearby cement factories.

Supreme Court said that “water worth billions of rupees was used by cement factories around the historic Katas Raj temple without any payment,” and ordered the factories to devise a policy for payment of water used in the past and that to be consumed in the future. Justice Nisar observed during the hearing that the cement factories had caused damage to the environment by using up the area's water as well as causing air pollution.

Along with this, the CJP noted that the factories had not taken any measures to resolve the issues voluntarily and that the owners only think of their own profits. He also said he would visit the factories himself to examine the situation regarding pollution caused by the factories.

"Cement factories should pay up to get water from the river," he said, ordering the factories to give recommendations as to how much they are willing to pay for the water they have already used and what the rate for future usage of water should be.

"The impression that in the absence of law, a wrong act would become right is false," Justice Umar Atta Bandial observed, adding that theft was a crime under all circumstances. The CJP also ordered the factories to take measures to prevent air pollution while directing the Punjab government to install pipelines to provide water to the factories. Meanwhile, Justice Ijazul Ahsan noted that 2.5 million gallons of water were used by the factories every day. "Cement factories pulled out a sea from underground sources."

Supreme Court's stand earlier

Earlier in this case hearing, Supreme Court of Pakistan, on December 12 ordered a local cement factory, Bestway Cement to fill water in the pond of Katas Raj temple within a week, taking cognisance of reports that such factories had caused the drying of the water body.  The SC had also expressed dismay over the absence of representations of Hindu deities in the historic Sri Ram and Hanuman temples in the complex and sought an explanation from the Evacuee Trust Property Board (ETPB) in this regard. The ETPB, which oversees the temple's affairs, had informed the SC that idols of Hindu deities had been removed from the temples on fears of reprisal attacks following the demolition of the Babri Mosque in India in 1992. Chief justice had lamented the government’s inability to safeguard one of the Hindu community’s most revered places of worship, said that Katas Raj was a national heritage site and must be protected.

On the earlier hearing of  November 22 , Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Mian Saqib Nisar regretted the government's inability to safeguard one of the Hindu community's most well-known places of worship, Katas Raj temple, and ordered that a committee be set up to probe the issue. "This temple is not just a place of cultural significance for the Hindu community, but also a part of our national heritage," the CJP observed.

What is the problem?

Three cement factories located in the vicinity of the temple complex have reduced the groundwater level.  Almost every home in Katas Waulah and Choa Saidan Shah, two settlements near the temple, draws water through bored wells due to the absence of a proper water supply network. The unchecked plantation of eucalyptus saplings in the region has compounded the problem. Besides the cement factories, the area is known for a number of coal mines. Since this involves massive digging of earth for coal extraction, the site becomes exposed to torrents of underground water.

The legend

According to Hindu belief system, the sacred pond at Katas Raj was formed by a tear that fell from the eyes of Lord Shiva after the death of his wife Sati. A second tear created a pond at Ajmer, Rajasthan. It is also believed that the Pandavas spent several years at Katas Raj during their 14 years in exile.

Rejuvenation programmes

Senior BJP leader and then deputy Prime Minister of India, LK Advani had inaugurated renovation works at the temple complex — believed to be more than 2,300 years old and linked to the epic Mahabharat — during a visit to Pakistan in June 2005. Despite the allocation of several crores of Pakistani rupees by successive governments, the work was never completed.

A series of pipes carrying water from a nearby source have helped fill up the Amrit Kund or main pond at the temple complex located in the Kallar Kahar range of the Potohar plateau, some three hours south of Islamabad. But experts say this is, at best, a temporary solution to a much larger problem.