The Supreme Court on Monday directed the federal government and all provincial chief secretaries to ensure implementation of every recommendation made in the Flood Commission’s report.
A three-member bench of the apex court, headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, heard the case of implementation of the Flood Commission’s report.
Furthermore, the court also issued a notice to Marvi Memon, a former Pakistan Muslim League -Quaid (PML-Q) legislator currently associated with the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), to appear in court for the upcoming hearing of the case.
Memon, who had requested the court in Sept 2011 to order the revival of the commission with a view to determining if the government had failed to carry out its recommendations, is expected to review the report during the next hearing.
During the hearing, the chief justice inquired from Sindh’s additional advocate general as to why the commission’s report had not been made public. He added that damages had been estimated at Rs855 billion, whereas 85 lives had been lost.
Chief Justice Iftikhar remarked that destruction had not been prevented and no one had been held to account for it.
The chief justice further inquired regarding the measures taken to obstruct the flow of the rivers, adding that nothing had been done to alleviate the excesses.
He added that the Punjab government was bore more responsible for not obstructing the flow of the rivers as all rivers pass through the province.
The chief justice asked why low-lying areas had not been cleared of the water, adding that not taking action may result in a loss of lives. He further said innocent lives must not be put at stake to satisfy political interests.
A representative of the Sindh Irrigation Department told the court that 25 per cent of the encroachments in low-lying areas had been cleared.
Moreover, the chief justice said a Google Earth satellite image should also be submitted as proof that the encroachments had been removed.
The court directed the federal government and all provincial chief secretaries to ensure implementation of every recommendation made in the commission’s report.
The hearing was adjourned for three weeks.
