SC commission visits Kandhkot

The Supreme Court commission investigating breaches in embankments visited Tori Bund.

KANDHKOT:

The Supreme Court (SC) commission investigating breaches in embankments visited Tori Bund on Monday.

The commission, led by its chairman Azam Khan, who belongs to Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, comprised members from all the provinces: AW Qazi from Sindh, Khawaja Zaheer from the Punjab, Fatah Khan Khajak from Balochistan and SC registrar Sajjad Aman Qazi.

The team interviewed several residents, including Liaqat Ali Mirani, Haji Sahir Ali Soryani, Pir Bux, Dr Tariq Bhayo, Baka Muhammad, Janib Maher, Ghulam Yasin Sabzoi, who accused the irrigation authorities of being negligent. According to the residents, when the floods entered Sindh on August 1, they asked the irrigation department officials to provide sand and sacks but to no avail. On the morning of August 7, there was an overflow which broke the Tori embankment as the authorities had left. This overflow caused severe damage in Sindh and Balochistan.

Later, Khan told the media that they would find out why there were breaches in dykes across the country and they would then file a report to the SC. “We will find out how these protective embankments were neglected,” he said. The court will give a verdict once the report is submitted, he added.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 15^th, 2011.