News
Tuesday, June 07, 2011
Flood commission presents 200-page report to apex court* Supreme Court told Sindh, Balochistan irrigation depts’ ‘negligence’ caused Rs 855bn loss
* Court orders report be made public
* Total loss estimated at 5.8 percent of GDP
By Hasnaat Malik
ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court was informed on Monday that the negligence of the Sindh and Balochistan irrigation departments had caused a colossal loss of Rs 855 billion to the national economy during last year’s devastating floods.
A 200-page report by the Flood Inquiry Commission, headed by Muhammad Azam Khan, and comprising Fateh Khan Khajjak, AW Kazi and Khawaja Zaheer Ahmed, was presented before a three-judge bench, headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry, which ordered that the report be translated into Urdu and made public. The court held that the orders for implementation of the recommendations made by the commission in its report would be announced on Tuesday (today).
“It should also be ensured that all such illegally constructed structures on government lands, which had been destroyed by the recent floods, are not allowed to be re-erected,” recommended the commission.
It also noted that some of the governments had been selling acquired lands in pond areas to raise revenues, while under the law, no construction of any infrastructure had been allowed to be erected within a distance of 200-feet from the banks of rivers/streams.
According to the report, as many as 1,600 people lost their lives and thousands wounded during the floods. Almost 4.5 million people lost their jobs mostly in the farming sector while Rabi crops for the season 2010-11 were badly affected. Twenty million people became internally-displaced and about seven million students were deprived of their academic session. The total loss is estimated at 5.8 percent of the GDP.
About 20 million people faced acute shortage of food while 3.5 million children’s education and 4.5 million persons’ livelihood were hit by the floods. It said that the encroachments contributed to obstructions in flow of water resulting in flooding of many areas. “Thousands of acres of ‘katcha’ lands have been encroached by local influentials or have been leased out on nominal charges resulting in erection of private bunds. Construction of houses and other built up properties has been allowed along river banks and canals. The local and provincial governments have themselves indulged in encouraging illegal acts promoting encroachments,” the report detailed.
It added that Tori Bund had not been repaired for the last many years.
The report said that among those directly responsible for the deluge of Guddu were chief engineer, in-charge XEN and their staff.
It said major damage occurred due to the lack of maintenance and repair of river embankments, canals and obstruction by major highways/motorways constructed by the Irrigation Department and the National Highway Authority (NHA) and others across the country. The report said that flood affectees were not given help on time. The current early warning facilities in the country were of limited nature. It said that irregularities were found in the Sindh Irrigation Department.
Courtesy www.dailytimes.com.pk