SHC issues notice over breach in Tori Bund

Sindh govt officials, chief engineers to appear before the court on Oct 18.

KARACHI: The Sindh High Court issued notices on Friday to the Sindh chief secretary and the irrigation secretary as well as the chief engineers of the Guddu and Sukkur barrages over the alleged breach of the Tori Bund. The four men have been asked to appear before the court on October 18.

Sindh National Front leader Mumtaz Bhutto, Sindh Awami Ittehad chairman Liaquat Jatoi, Sindh United Party chief Syed Jalal Mehmood Shah and Save Sindh Movement chief Syed Shah Muhammad Shah filed a constitutional application on September 30, alleging that the Tori Bund was deliberately breached in order to protect the land belonging to certain government officials. The breach affected seven districts in Sindh and two in Baluchistan, while 3,000 people lost their lives and nine million people were forced to leave their homes, said the petitioners.

They held Sindh Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah and Irrigation Minister Saifullah Dharejo as respondents and requested that a judicial inquiry be conducted by sitting judges and the culprits in the incident be taken to task, after which the Sindh government formed a judicial commission to probe into the matter.

The commission comprises Justice (retd) Zahid Qurban Alvi and Justice (retd) Ghulam Nabi Soomro, who will investigate the breaches in the MS bund and the Tori Bund. They will also inquire into the steps that were taken by the relevant departments to prevent the breaches.

The commission has been asked to submit a report within three weeks.

Sindh Assembly opposition leader Jam Madad Ali had earlier requested the irrigation department.

WITH ADDITIONAL INPUT FROM PPI

Published in The Express Tribune, October 2^nd, 2010.