SC rejects Sindh govt’s assessment report

Chief justice says report ‘not even worth a second glance’.

ISLAMABAD:

The Supreme Court on Thursday rejected the Sindh government’s assessment report on the devastation caused by floods which have inundated large parts of the province again this year.

The bench said the report was ‘concocted’ and directed the Sindh government to present another report based on facts by September 26. The federal and Sindh governments were asked to inform the court whether last year’s flood inquiry commission’s recommendations were implemented. A three-member bench headed by Chief Justice (CJP) Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry heard former parliamentarian Marvi Memon’s petition on the government’s failure to enforce measures suggested by the commission. “Had the flood commission’s recommendations been implemented, Sindh would not have witnessed another disaster this monsoon.”

He said there was evidence that influential landowners had breached embankments and illegally diverted floodwaters to save their lands, but no one has been held accountable so far. “People are suffering on account of heavy floods while the Sindh government is sitting idle.” The chief justice observed that the report does not mention if the commission’s recommendations were implemented.

The bench remarked that the Sindh government was giving only Rs11 to each flood-affected family in Sanghar, according to documents submitted by Memon. When Additional Advocate General Miran Muhammad Shah stated that the government was giving Rs20, 000 to each family, the CJP pointed out that the money was given by the federal government.  “Your report is not worth a second glance,” the CJP angrily remarked.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 23^rd,  2011.