Khawaja Zaheer Ahmed - PDMA

designed heights that contemplated six feet freeboard over 1976
HF Line with additional margin of 1-2 feet. That was attributed to
paucity of funds required to repair usual erosion @ 1-2 inches due
to natural elements. He also affirmed that unlike 1976, this time
Aliwahan Bund was not to be breached and that was a course
agreed to, at high level meetings at Sukkur on 8-9 th August,
attended amongst others by the Chief Minister Sindh, Federal
Minister Syed Khurshid Shah, the Chairman Wapda, Commander 5
Corps and Mr. Idrees Rajput, a private Consultant after deliberated
options and discussions. It was contended that Aliwahan breach
would not have affected the breach or otherwise, upstream Tori
Bund but had the former been breached, extensive losses would
have occurred all through to Hyderabad threatening communication
infrastructure enroute and newer population settlements that
mushroomed since 1976. Existence of extensive encroachments of
acquired lands in Katcha and around river beds, farming in the
danger zones and abuse of bund surfaces for various unauthorized
purposes, to which staff’s insecurity from outlaws had added
additional and avoidable hazards was confirmed to assert that
these invariably led to lowering of guards by concerned O and M
staff of the Irrigation Department. It was also contended that the
limited number of breaches confirmed good quality of maintenance
of hundreds of km rest of the bunds. While supplementing the main
thrust of the official depositions on behalf of the provincial
government, Mr. Mahar volunteered this particular aspect after the
Commission’s directions to the FFC representative to undertake
actual measurements of the two breaches flagged for extensive
damages in Sindh and Balochistan, in particular on 7/8 th August
2010, was significant. Other senior officials who came forward to
supplement the aspects not covered by Mr. Mahar, included:-
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