Flood inquiry tribunal asks for more detailed reports

The three-member tribunal is holding an inquiry into the breaches made in main embankments in flood-hit areas.

LAHORE: The judicial flood inquiry tribunal on Tuesday directed the Flood Forecasting Division (FFD) and the Irrigation Department to file detailed reports by September 20.

The three-member tribunal, headed by Justice Mansoor Ali Shah of the Lahore High Court, is holding an inquiry into the breaches made in main embankments in flood-hit areas, allegedly by influential landlords. Earlier, director FFD Muhammad Amjal Shad and Irrigation Secretary Rab Nawaz made their presentations before the tribunal. The tribunal said they were generic and asked the officials to submit detailed reports, including details of each and every breach in the area under inquiry, from Jinnah Barrage to the upstream Guddu Barrage.

The tribunal also issued notices to the Water and Power Development Authority and senior members of the Board of Revenue to submit reports on September 15. Notices were also issued to 1st, 2nd and 4th Engineering Corps of the Pakistan Army for September 21. The tribunal also directed the Communication and Works Department, Pakistan Railways, Local Government Department and housing and urban development and public health engineering department to submit their statements regarding the recent floods.

Mansoob Ali Zaidi, retired secretary irrigation and power department, Punjab, and Abdul Sattar Shakir, the dean of University of Engineering and Technology, civil engineering, are members of the tribunal.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 15^th, 2010.