Sindh says cabinet members not responsible for breach
Sindh govt labels charges as politically motivated.
KARACHI:
Shifting the blame for all flood-related devastation in the province on mother nature, the Sindh government denied reports that members of the cabinet were responsible for a man-made breach in the Tori protective embankment.
This was the gist of comments filed before High Court of Sindh in two petitions on Saturday.
One of the petitions was filed by Abdul Mujeeb Pirzada Advocate, former MNA and the other was filed by former chief ministers Mumtaz Ali Khan Bhutto and Liaquat Ali Khan Jatoi, Syed Jalal Mehmood Shah, a former speaker Sindh Assembly, and Syed Shah Muhammad Shah, accusing the government of being responsible for displacing millions of people of Sindh because of alleged man-made breaches in Tori bund and MS Feeder “just to save the farmlands, flour or sugar mills of influential politicians and fellow lawmakers”.
The comments were perused by the court on Saturday. Abdul Mujeeb Pirzada said that the government had said that it had taken all precautionary measures, including those in accordance with the “Bund Manual”.
The government, he said, conveniently claimed that it was because of these measures that almost all embankments on both sides of the Indus River, right from Kashmore to the Arabian Sea, had been “successfully saved except for the unfortunate incident of overtopping of the Tori Bund and breach in Kot Aalmoo”.
The comments categorically denied that Sindh Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah or Sindh Irrigation Minister Jam Saifullah Dharejo, respondents in the petition, managed a breach in Tori Bund in connivance with irrigation officials.
On August 7, the river discharge of 962,000 cusecs was far in excess of all predictions and data compiled by the irrigation department.
The recent floods, the comments said, were “historic in terms of discharge and duration and the magnitude of devastation”.
Terming allegations levelled against provincial cabinet members illogical, the government said that no sane person could even dare to make a breach in broad daylight in the presence of army jawans, volunteers of NGOs, media and a large number of local people. It said that the allegations were politically-motivated.
Referring to a press briefing by Irrigation Minister Jam Saifullah Dharejo in which he claimed to have ordered a breach, the government told the court that the statement was based on misinformation, adding that the statement had later been retracted by the minister.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 16th, 2010.
Shifting the blame for all flood-related devastation in the province on mother nature, the Sindh government denied reports that members of the cabinet were responsible for a man-made breach in the Tori protective embankment.
This was the gist of comments filed before High Court of Sindh in two petitions on Saturday.
One of the petitions was filed by Abdul Mujeeb Pirzada Advocate, former MNA and the other was filed by former chief ministers Mumtaz Ali Khan Bhutto and Liaquat Ali Khan Jatoi, Syed Jalal Mehmood Shah, a former speaker Sindh Assembly, and Syed Shah Muhammad Shah, accusing the government of being responsible for displacing millions of people of Sindh because of alleged man-made breaches in Tori bund and MS Feeder “just to save the farmlands, flour or sugar mills of influential politicians and fellow lawmakers”.
The comments were perused by the court on Saturday. Abdul Mujeeb Pirzada said that the government had said that it had taken all precautionary measures, including those in accordance with the “Bund Manual”.
The government, he said, conveniently claimed that it was because of these measures that almost all embankments on both sides of the Indus River, right from Kashmore to the Arabian Sea, had been “successfully saved except for the unfortunate incident of overtopping of the Tori Bund and breach in Kot Aalmoo”.
The comments categorically denied that Sindh Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah or Sindh Irrigation Minister Jam Saifullah Dharejo, respondents in the petition, managed a breach in Tori Bund in connivance with irrigation officials.
On August 7, the river discharge of 962,000 cusecs was far in excess of all predictions and data compiled by the irrigation department.
The recent floods, the comments said, were “historic in terms of discharge and duration and the magnitude of devastation”.
Terming allegations levelled against provincial cabinet members illogical, the government said that no sane person could even dare to make a breach in broad daylight in the presence of army jawans, volunteers of NGOs, media and a large number of local people. It said that the allegations were politically-motivated.
Referring to a press briefing by Irrigation Minister Jam Saifullah Dharejo in which he claimed to have ordered a breach, the government told the court that the statement was based on misinformation, adding that the statement had later been retracted by the minister.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 16th, 2010.