SC asks for update on implementation of recommendations

Asks advocate general to disclose names of people hindering an operation against encroachments.

ISLAMABAD:

The Supreme Court on Thursday asked the government for an update on the implementation of recommendations made by the flood inquiry commission in three weeks’ time.

A two-member bench, headed by Chief Justice Ifthikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, resumed hearing of former parliamentarian Marvi Memon’s application on non-implementation of flood commission’s recommendations.

Failure to act on the recommendations caused large-scale destruction in Sindh during the monsoon this year. Justice Khilji Arif Hussain said the government had not done anything to provide shelter or rehabilitate flood-affected people who have been forced to go on the streets. “They have been left at the mercy of fate,” he said.

Advocate General Sindh Fateh Muhammad Malik informed the court that opportunist elements broke dykes during the floods, diverting its flow to the low-lying areas which actually caused the devastation. He said some elements were hindering the operation against encroachments.

The chief justice ordered him to submit the names of the people he was referring to. He said the flood commission had given concrete suggestions for improvement. “Had the government followed its recommendations, heavy losses could have been avoided,” he said.

The court directed the government to ensure payment of the remaining Rs80,000 per family pledged to flood survivors as soon as possible. The flood commission in its report on the 2010 floods had fixed responsibility for the dykes’ breaches and declared that negligent and corrupt officials contributed to the loss of life and devastation caused by the floods.

Irrigation departments of Sindh and Balochistan were held responsible for the breaches which caused an unprecedented loss of life and property during the floods that engulfed Pakistan last year.

The commission had assessed that floods inflicted a loss of Rs855 billion on the national economy. The court has adjourned the case for three weeks.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 28^th, 2011.