Express Tribune Editorials 25th August 2026

Unfit for human consumption

The general perception about bottled water in Pakistan is that it's comparatively safer and cleaner than what is supplied through taps. This assumption has led to exorbitant price increases across various brands in the past few years, with prices rising as much as 150 per cent. Bottled water companies brazenly sell their customers an illusion of health-consciousness, but not all companies can be trusted blindly. On the directives of the federal government, the Pakistan Council of Research in Water Resources (PCRWR) collected samples of 230 bottled or mineral water brands and tested them against quality standards set by the Pakistan Standards and Quality Control Authority (PSQCA). As many as 29 bottled water brands were found to be unfit for human consumption due to microbiological or chemical contamination.

PCRWR has been directed to conduct quarterly monitoring of commercially available bottled and mineral water brands and to publicise its findings. While it is exceedingly important to facilitate public awareness regarding food and drink brands, another important measure in a comprehensive plan of action that is currently being neglected is concrete legal action against brands selling subpar or harmful water. Many brands were found to have excessive total dissolved solids (TDS) beyond the permissible limit of 500 ppm. These solids often include dissolved metals that enter the water via pollution or even broken-down algae and plant materials.

Currently, PCRWR has advised the public to consult its water quality report before purchasing bottled water - which is also where its jurisdiction ends. It is incumbent on the government to take action that extends beyond issuing directives, since this is a significantly concerning issue regarding public health and safety. The government's job is not just to disseminate information but primarily to shut down commercial enterprise that is acting against the public interest in any capacity.

School children's safety

A child's journey to school should never be a gamble. Yet in Pakistan, thousands of students travel every day in overcrowded vans, ageing Suzuki vehicles and rickshaws that are often poorly maintained and sometimes fitted with dangerously installed LPG cylinders. That this has been allowed to become routine is itself a serious failure of regulation.

The Lahore Traffic Police's decision to crack down on overloading and the use of LPG cylinders in school transport is therefore long overdue. The order that children must not be carried beyond a vehicle's capacity, that LPG cylinders be prohibited in vehicles transporting schoolchildren and that children not be seated in the front of rickshaws is basic safety enforcement. It should never have required a fresh campaign to establish these rules. Instead, small Suzuki vans are routinely packed with far more children than they were designed to carry. Children are squeezed into every available space, while schoolbags are sometimes hung from the sides of vehicles. The use of LPG adds another layer of danger. The problem is not LPG itself but the reckless manner in which cylinders are often installed, refilled, stored and maintained. Old cylinders and unauthorised refilling facilities create risks that are entirely preventable. Enforcement must also extend beyond school vans to the entire chain through which LPG is sold. Other provinces must now follow suit. Karachi, in particular, and other dense urban centres cannot afford to wait for another tragedy. They have a vast school-going population and a large informal transport network, making effective regulation even more important.

There is also a wider question of accountability. Parents are often blamed for choosing cheap or unsafe transport, but many have little choice. The answer cannot therefore be to tell parents to be more careful. It must be to ensure that every legally operating school vehicle is safe.

Farmers must be heard

The threat of a 'Million March' on the federal capital by farmers demands immediate, sympathetic attention. The farmers are demanding fairer prices for their produce as well as a review of policies which, they claim, are causing them losses worth trillions of rupees. Also, their concerns regarding skyrocketing energy prices, rising fertiliser costs and a cut in water share cannot be brushed aside. The backbone of the economy, agriculture yields 23.4% of GDP, employs 33% of the labour force, and drives vital allied sectors like livestock, fisheries and forestry. Ignoring this crisis risks crippling the nation's economic foundation.

The growers contend that only a total policy overhaul can resolve the ongoing wheat procurement crisis. For years, their crop has been purchased at heavily suppressed rates, even as the state drains precious foreign reserves to import wheat at exorbitant costs. The farmers are entirely justified in demanding that safeguarding agricultural land, managing water resources and securing farmers' welfare be elevated to a top national priority.

This unrest, however, has been brewing for a while. Compounding losses have already forced bitter choices upon growers, who claim they are pulling back wheat cultivation by up to 40%. Farmers insist that while the state preaches deregulation, it simultaneously engages in administrative excesses and enforces an arbitrary ban on inter-provincial crop transit. This structural mismanagement has inflicted a staggering Rs2.2 trillion blow to the agricultural economy, pushing cash crop prospects to the brink of collapse.

For growers, the path forward is unmistakable: the state must aggressively curb its reliance on imports and actively pave the way for agricultural export expansion. They expect withdrawal of retaliatory FIRs, climate-loss compensation and respectful treatment. The calls for resignation of the Punjab CM may dominate headlines, but the systemic cure is clear: a grand dialogue between farmers and policymakers is urgently required to rewrite an actionable agricultural roadmap before the crisis deepens.