Khawaja Zaheer Ahmed - PDMA

if compared with DNA verified losses of Rs.11 billion
in Sindh’s Irrigation infrastructure leaves many open
questions?
7) Irrigation department’s second major claim about
absence of SOPs for breaching of any bund was also
weak and contradicted by historical record, in Sindh
Bund Manual. Relief cuts in the past, including cuts
given to Aliwahan Bund are listed threadbare, e.g. in
1976, at least five cuts were given to release some
67,000 cusecs of water without much loss to life and
property. In this case, the Commission noted that
unlike the 1976, the decision not to breach Aliwahan
Bund was taken after on spot consultations of likely
implications. That this decision was taken at a high
level meeting at Sukkur, attended by the Provincial
and Federal dignitaries, including Chief Minister
Sindh, Irrigation Minister Mr. Saif Ullah Dharejo,
Federal Minister Syed Khurshid Ahmed Shah, senior
officials including Secretary Irrigation, Chairman
WAPDA, private retired irrigation officials/Consultants
and Commander 5 Corps, after review of implications
and consequences for inter-Provincial communication
routes, with due regard to expert consultations rules
out any motivated restraints.
8) While it was rightly contended that one or more
breaches in Aliwahan would not have affected the
upstream Tori Bund discharge, no cogent explanation
was given as to why steps were not taken to
minimise, if not avert, losses allowed to be inflicted on
Thatta-Sujawal poor, two weeks later. If emergence of
newer population settlements during last three
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