The three-member bench comprising Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, Justice Tariq Parvez and Justice Ghulam Rabbani directed the counsel for the provincial government to submit till September 26 a comprehensive report over the action taken against officials held responsible in the Flood Commission report and the ongoing relief activities for the flood victims.
During course of proceedings, the Chief Justice told Mira Mohammad Shah, counsel for the Sindh government, that the persons responsible for negligence during last year floods, were still on their posts.
He observed that according to the applicant in Sanghar per person Rs 11 were being distributed.
The counsel replied that they were giving Rs 20,000 to each victim.
The Chief Justice said that the amount was announced by the President but what the provincial government was doing?
He observed that a large number of flood-affected inhabitants of the Sindh province were not getting food and shelter and it was responsibility of the officials concerned to immediately provide succour.
The bench was hearing a contempt plea moved by Marvi Memon, former member of Parliament, against the Sindh government for non-implementation of the recommendations of Flood Commission.
During previous hearing, the bench also directed the relevant authorities to submit their replies till September 22 over a write-up submitted by Marvi Memon regarding flood devastation in the province.
Marvi Memon, who had appeared, said that the authorities did not respond to the current disaster which had fallen over the Sindh province.
She said there was lack of transparency in the process of strengthening water courses and drainage system even after recommendations of the Flood Commission which submitted its comprehensive report over last year's floods under the apex Court's mandate.
She said that the government did not implement the relevant reports submitted by Nisar Memon's committee, Disabled Society, UNO, WAPDA report of 2009 and a separate report submitted by her as chairperson of the National Assembly's Committee on Climate changes.
Marvi said that she had travelled throughout Sindh by road and people there told her that if Sindh Nullah was constructed and maintained such a catastrophe could have been averted.
She apprised the court that in Sanghar, an affected person was getting only Rs 11 as financial aid.
She prayed to the bench to reconstitute the earlier Commission to probe the issue.
Copyright APP (Associated Press of Pakistan), 2011