Tori dyke breach case: ‘Guddu engineer misled probe panel’

Inquiry commission presents report to SC; CJ to pass implementation orders today.

ISLAMABAD:

Guddu chief engineer, his immediate supervisor and the then Sindh irrigation secretary are responsible for breaching the Tori embankment, according to a report by a flood inquiry commission tasked with probing “politically motivated” bund breaches along River Indus.

The commission, which was appointed by the Supreme Court, presented its findings to a three-member bench of the court on Monday. The commission also named author of the revised Bund Manual responsible for the dyke breach.

Not only were they negligent, the report states, they (the chief engineer and the author) also attempted to mislead the commission by suppressing evidence. “Knowing full well about the pre-flood state of the Tori Bund, they both committed perjury,” the report said, adding that they had also failed to ensure the bund was upgraded before the floods as mandated by the Indus River Commission on February 4, 2010.

The report also highlights the last-minute transfer of the irrigation minister’s portfolio by the political leadership. “The shifting [of the minister] by the political leadership needs to be explored too in that context to rule out manipulation or divert focus of failed bunds from departmental acts and omissions to political leadership, notwithstanding the confusion compounded by his irresponsible statement,” it states.

Illegal encroachments

The report observes that the 2010 floods have fully exposed illegal encroachments that authorities have allowed to continue unchecked. Local influential people have illegally encroached upon thousands of acres of katcha lands or leased them out on nominal charges, resulting in erection of private bunds. Local and provincial governments are also involved in illegal encroachments, the report says, when according to law no construction of any infrastructure is allowed within 200 feet of banks of rivers and streams.

‘Avoidable damage’

The report states that commission members, in their interaction with public and private sector institutions, noted with concern that major damage occurred due to lack of maintenance or repair of river embankments and canals.

Another reason, it says, is the obstruction by major highways and motorways constructed by the irrigation department and the National Highway Authority (NHA) and others across the country.

The commission observed that most damages could have been prevented if strategically located escape points, like the Rainy Canal, were available at barrages, bunds and motorways and highways.

Recommendations

Firstly, the commission recommends, the government must ensure that no encroachments are permitted and no acquired lands are sold or leased out.

The commission states that although Pakistan is a member of the World Meteorology Organisation (WMO), it does not access information from it nor is it taking full advantage of information available with it.

The commission has recommended that radar coverage be expanded to the entire country and a coordinating mechanism be established with the WMO and Saarc members for accessing and sharing information on early weather warning.

Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry received the report and directed the government to make it public. Orders for implementation of the recommendations made in the report will be announced today (Tuesday), Justice Chaudhry said.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 7^th, 2011.