Pakistan

2010 flood: SC directs officials to expedite repair of canals

SC directs officials to complete the reconstruction of dykes and canals destroyed in last year’s flood by April 15.

Qaiser Zulfiqar March 29, 2011

ISLAMABAD:

The Supreme Court on Monday directed officials to complete the reconstruction of dykes and canals destroyed in last year’s flood by April 15 and asked the chief secretaries of Sindh and Balochistan to submit weekly reports pertaining to their repair.

Media reports highlighted the devastation in Sindh and Balochistan and depicted reality, the court stated. A three-member bench taking up the petition of PML-Q legislator Marvi Memon ordered officials to expedite work on all canals including the Kirthar canal which is the main source of water for the Jaffarabad District.

The Flood Commission did not explain in its interim report whether the Tori Bund was deliberately breached, Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry observed. Secretary Flood Commission and Additional Registrar Supreme Court Qazi Sajid presented the interim report to the bench. The court directed officials to expedite the canals’ reconstruction so that farmers may have sufficient water before kharif crops. Chief Engineer Balochistan assured the court that repair of canals and dykes is in progress and it will be completed by the end of April. The Kharif season will have come to an end by then, how will farmers cultivate their crops?” Questioned the Chief Justice and directed him to expedite the work.

Marvi Memon contended that the commission focused almost exclusively on the Balochistan situation. She said she had visited Thatta district where farmers do not even have seeds and fertiliser. Memon’s counsel Abdul Hafeez Pirzada submitted that farmers will not be able to cultivate kharif crops if they are not provided water. “A subsidy on tractors has been eliminated and the prices of seeds and fertiliser have hit the sky just like the prices of petrol and diesel.” The court adjourned the hearing for an indefinite period.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 29^th, 2011.