Khawaja Zaheer Ahmed - PDMA

6) As regards the presentation by the Sindh
representatives, its record and oral evidence had
been thoroughly examined by the Commission. It also
took note of depositions of 82 witnesses examined by
the Sindh Commission, consisting of two former
Hon’able Judges of the Sindh High Court that
undertook areal & on-site inspections of the breached
bunds. While the SJC exclusively focussed on the
impact of flood devastations within the Sindh Province
only, it discarded oral testimonies of key officials and
public witnesses on account of certain material events
of actual breach of Tori Bund. These were attributed
to twin causes of ‘heavy rain’ which was not there
and high-flood waters, after cross verification by
official weather data regarding downpour, cited in an
earlier part of this Report, invoked as an alibi for
insufficient response, absence from the breach site at
critical hour and returning of the CE Guddu without
getting down from his Jeep. The SJC had also noted
adequate material to conclude years of individual and
collective lethargy, negligence, or both since 1995 as
also during the pre-flood phase of 2010. Under the
PPC ‘an act includes omission, where there is
duty to act’. The bunds generally and Tori, MS and
PB Bunds, in particular had not been maintained upto
requisite state or height, is also established by pre
and post-flood official proceedings of the IRC’s
meetings wherein against schemes [no 2.a, of the
meeting 4 th February for Rs.81.572 million and
item 85 for Rs.103.727 million, dated 14 th October,
2010] worth over Rs.61 billion were considered. That
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