Judicial verification of relief operation ordered

The Sindh High Court (SHC) has ordered judicial verification of the Sindh government's relief operations in the rain and flood affected areas in the province.

The Hyderabad circuit bench comprising Justices Muhammad Iqbal Kalhoro and Adnan-ul-Karim Memon ordered all the district and sessions judges to depute civil judge and judicial magistrates to visit the affected areas, verify the facts and submit reports in a fortnight.

The order has been given in a petition filed by Mumtaz Ahmed Lashari Advocate, a former office-bearer of SHC Bar Association, Hyderabad.

The lawyer pleaded that the Sindh government has allegedly failed to provide relief to the flood-hit and displaced families.

The Additional Advocate General, Allah Bachayo Soomro, during the hearing, refuted the lawyer's contention and submitted a detailed report about the provincial government's relief operations.

Later, both the parties concurred that the district and sessions judges should be tasked to check and authenticate the entire exercise.

The lawyer also argued that the environmental experts had time and again issued threat alerts about unusual heavy downpours and floods, citing the previous catastrophes which hit the province in 1988, 1995, 1997, 2010 and 2011. However, he said, the government miserably failed to prepare its drainage networks to minimise the impact of such disasters and also could not prepare an efficient mechanism for the post-disaster relief works.

He said, affected people have been living without food, water, shelter and health facilities.

Lashari demanded action against the government functionaries and those who did not help the affected people.

At the last date of hearing on September 22, the SHC had given two weeks to the additional advocate general to submit a comprehensive report about the relief works.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 7^th, 2022.