Khawaja Zaheer Ahmed - PDMA

. Other major breaches, including those in the LGB/LMB of Jinnah Barrage,
LMB of Taunsa Barrage and its secondary Sunawan Bund in
Muzaffargarh, Jampur Bund and Fakhhar Bund in Kot Mithan, of Rajanpur
district were not caused by direct human interventions, nor permissible as
such under any SOPs. A host of factors & reasons contributed to these
breaches: Pre-flood poor maintenance, existence of private bunds in the
river belt, non-observance of barrage gate regulations at critical hours, use
of incompatible quality of material for rehabilitation of LMB on Taunsa and
conceptual and design issues and motivated considerations of the duty
staff, inconsistent with officially approved plans, besides complacency
were noted.
c. In Sindh also, no breach to any bunds was authorized but these occurred
in case of Tori and its loop bunds due to pre-flood negligence,poor
maintenance and attempts to remove earth from the crest. In case of MS
and PB Bunds in Thatta Sujawal, observed indifference, before and during
the flood season and illegal practices in and around the bunds contributed
to the breaches.
3. Whether before ordering embankment breaches at different places,
particularly at Aliwahan and Tori Bund, no procedure was followed, if so, who is
responsible for the same?
Findings
a. The Tori Bund suffered years of neglected maintenance; its height had
eroded substantially, and ‘dangerously’, long before the flood season; last
minute, misdirected departmental attempt to remove earth from its crest to
fill the ‘Garrahs’ [deep pits] on the riverside of the Bund in wee hours of
6/7 th August further reduced its height in gross violation of specified
guidelines; the public viewed that as a deliberate attempt to breach. At the
relevant time, the Chief Engineer, Guddu, camped at Tori Rest House,
and his team, especially the XEN in-charge, failed to take timely remedial
measures; they were directly responsible for consequential losses in
Sindh and Balochistan.
b. The case of Aliwahan Bund was, however, somewhat different; it was not
breached during 2010 floods. High level consultations amongst political
and civil-military officials including Federal, and Provincial political
personages assembled at Sukkar for two days decided against this
breach; in fact, the petitioner’s case was that Aliwahan bund should have
been breached.
4. Whether before embankment breaches at different places,
precautionary measures were adopted, particularly in view of warnings issued
from time to time by the meteorological department of Pakistan?
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