Friday, February 4, 2011
Peshawar Visit 4 Feb Posted by Marvi Memon under
- Criminal negligence
- Pre flood Maintenance not done leading to flood impact exacerbating. Corruption on maintenance, monitoring and upgrading funds leading to poor defence structures against floods
- Diverting of flood waters to save personal lands into areas which under normal water route would have been safe
- No accountability for funds spent on rescue, relief and rehabilitation down to UC level linked to source of funds
- 7 august ‘overtopping’ of Tori bund – 2 breaches between mile 12 and 13 of Tori bund. After the breach water rushed to Ghouspur loop bund which was breached at 3 locations. Accumulation along left side of BS Feeder which breached near Unar Escape Regulator. It was contained at BS Feeder fr 24 hours with no effort to contain water. Then it breached Right embankment of the BS Feeder near dari Town and rushed towards Indus Highway on wards to Southern Sindh and Balochistan.
- Loss estimated by Ministry of Finance of devastation to houses, crops and infrastructure is $10 billion. Who will pay for it?
- In 1976 about 1.2mm cusecs flowed but didn’t cause so much damage since water flow was managed better.
- Height of 6 feet for bunds was decided after 1976 floods but this was not done by subsequent governments.
- In 1976 it is reported that to alleviate pressure on Sukkur barrage Ali Wahan Bund was breached.
- 2010 flood Watan card distribution was on political basis
- Seeds and fertilizer being distributed was on political basis.
- Why were World bank reports ignored which declared Pak at most risk from severe flooding.
- Flood office and Met office warned government of inundation of many villages due to excessive rainfall and exceptionally high flood at Guddu and Sukkur. Warnings ignored.
- Irrigation works were in bad shape due to poor spending on them. Sukkur Barrage Rehabilitation Improvement Project unspent. Rehab of Irrigation Project paltry amount spent. Same for Lining of distributaries and minors project.
- Allegations by many influential people who said 2 sitting PPP ministers responsible for breaches to save own lands and to save US Air base in Jacobabad.
- Admission by Irrigation minister Sindh that they made artificial cut at Ghouspur after claiming later that no cuts were made. VIDEO.
- Admition by many PPP parliamentarians as well as govt officials like Hussain Haroon in UN of artificial cuts.
- US airbase access not given for relief efforts as per govt admission.
- Shikarpur flood affectees were denied access to Nawabshah. Many from upper Sindh were denied access to Karachi.
- Relief camps were havens for disease.
Intentional Breaches in Punjab
- Irrigation officials at Jinnah Barrage told Dawn that water discharge from the reservoir at 8pm was 915,552 cusec – highest ever recorded at Jinnah Barrage. They said that breaches had been made in right and left dykes of the barrage to save it from a total collapse. (Ref: Dawn, 31 Jul, 2010)
- In Mianwali, engineers of the irrigation department were struggling to plug a breach on the left embankment of the Indus which had been blown up on Thursday night to save the Jinnah Barrage. The breach has inundated a vast area in the town of Daudkhel. (Ref: Dawn, 2 Aug, 2010)
- On the other hand, sources said that the irrigation authorities in the Punjab had diverted water in the Taunsa-Panjnad canal and Muzaffargarh to minimise pressure on the Taunsa but both canals developed breaches and a lot of water was lost. This breach has created trouble for Kot Addu but reduced the intensity of floods coming towards Sindh. (Ref: The Express Tribune, 4 Aug, 2010)
- Floodwater hit Kot Addu from two sides on Wednesday. A wave resulting from a breach in the Taunsa spur had hit the western side of the town on Tuesday, followed by breaches in the Muzaffargarh and TP link canals. On Wednesday, a wave from the Indus entered the town from the Noor Shah Talai Road. Some members of the Punjab Assembly based in the area blamed negligence of irrigation officials for flooding in Kot Addu and Daira Din Pannah. (Ref: Dawn, Aug 5, 2010)
- MPA Ahmad Yar Hunjra said he had called for breaking the spur No.22 bridge to turn the flood towards the riverside of Taunsa, but irrigation officials refused to do so because of technical problems. MPA Saima Aziz of the Pakistan Muslim League-N alleged that irrigation officials had breached the Muzaffargarh canal in the city area in a bid to save the Kapco power plant. (Ref: Dawn, Aug 5, 2010)
- A high flood breached the Kachhi canal bank and broke the siphon on the DG canal, threatening inundation of Dera Ghazi Khan town. However, the water was diverted towards the DG canal, affecting the suburbs of Choti Zarin and Khanpur Munjwala. (Ref: Dawn, 6 Aug 2010)
- Irrigation officials breached the Muzaffargarh canal near Head Kalu, which may cause flood in Chowk Qureshi and Ghazi Ghat town. An irrigation official, however, said the department did not make the breach; it had occurred because of an increase in water flow. (Ref: Dawn, 8 Aug 2010)
- In Muzaffargarh tehsil, breaches were made in the Tulaihri canal at Kunnal Shareef, Langar Saran and Manjhan Sultan to save the city. Meanwhile, a breach in the Rangpur canal has inundated hundreds of acres.(Ref: Dawn, Aug 9, 2010)
- The officer in charge of relief work, Chaudhry Ameen, said that 95 per cent of the city had either been destroyed or inundated by floods. He said that authorities could not assess losses immediately and that a high-level probe should be launched to identify the officials responsible for inundating the city by breaching the flood protection bunds. (Ref: Dawn, Aug 9, 2010)
- At the time when the flood-affected people await relief, one of the local MPAs in Tehsil Rojhan has been found busy in dirty politics trying to breach the embankments of his rival politicians’ lands in the area. Atif Mazari, a PML-N MPA from Rojhan, and his brother tried to breach the link-canal in Tehsil Rojhan near Indus Highway, which protected the cultivated lands of the local politicians from the other parties. (Ref: The Nation, 10 Aug, 2010)
- Jamshed Dasti says Muzaffargarh was flooded after officials breached embankments at wrong places g PML-Q’s Raza Hiraj accuses Punjab govt of being biased towards flood victims. (Ref: Daily Times, Sep, 4, 2010)
- The floods were caused by canal bursts and breaches and by protection bunds giving way, in an area ranging from Mianwali district to Layyah, Muzaffargarh, Dera Ghazi Khan and Rajanpur. The breaches in the canals were not only caused by the massive volume of water but also by the creation of gaps by the Punjab’s irrigation department for diversion of floodwater. (Ref: The News, “’Nasty fears’ about the Indus”, Article by Noreen Haider, Aug 21, 2010)
- TP Canal’s banks were breached by the irrigation department at various other points. The water from TP Canal was drained into Muzaffargarh Canal. That canal, which has the maximum capacity of 8,900 cusecs, could not withstand the resulting surge of 2,000 cusecs and breached at many points. (Ref: The News, “’Nasty fears’ about the Indus”, Article by Noreen Haider, Aug 21, 2010)
- The other places where the Punjab irrigation department made breaches in TP Canal include Muhammad Wala, in an attempt to divert the floodwater to Chenab River. The irrigation department states that the breaches were made in order to save PARCO and the KAPCO Power Plant. Breaches were made on Rangpur Canal also. Another breach was made in a section of Muzaffargarh Canal in order to divert its water to Chenab River. The Irrigation Department officials admit that the breaches did not succeed in diverting the floodwaters into Chenab River and contributed to the inundation of Kot Addu and surrounding areas. Breaches were also made in the Talhiri distributory at Ganeshwala in Muzaffargarh, two kilometres from Muzaffargarh town. In various places the breaches, instead of diverting water, created or worsened inundation in towns and villages. (Ref: The News, “’Nasty fears’ about the Indus”, Article by Noreen Haider, Aug 21, 2010)
- In Mianwali a relief cut was made in the breach section of the Right Guide Band in order to release pressure at the Jinnah Barrage on the Indus River, but, similarly, it only resulted in the flooding of towns and villages. (Ref: The News, “’Nasty fears’ about the Indus”, Article by Noreen Haider, Aug 21, 2010)
- The breach created by the district government on Shreeowala Band, near Kot Chuuta, on the night of Aug 3 affected around 450,000 people of Jampur tehsil`s 225 villages on the right bank of the Indus. The areas from Jampur to Fazalpur are the worst-hit. “For the last four decades or so, we have never seen such a huge flood,” Aslem Rasoolpuri, an advocate, told Dawn. (Ref: Dawn, Sep 9, 2010)
- As a preventive measure, authorities have decided to break the dyke near Kot Sabzal to stop floodwater from destroying the national highway in Rahim Yar Khan. (The Express Tribune, 20 Aug, 2010)
- The Punjab government alleges that Raiti Canal flowing from Guddu Barrage into Sindh is being breached by the local population in a manner inundating a number of villages of Punjab and threatening life and property in many more villages. (Ref: Dawn, Aug 11, 2010)
- Several illegally erected dykes on the barrage’s right bank – set up allegedly to prevent water from flowing into its pond area which has been encroached upon by influential families – caused floods to wreck havoc in settled areas, The Express Tribune has learnt. These influential families include the Khosas and the Khinjras who have allegedly cultivated the pond area land and have established hunting sites there. (The Express Tribune, Sep 9, 2010)
- No action has so far been taken against the Irrigation secretary, Malik Rabnawaz and the SDO, Habib Bodla for failing to ensure that the right bank was breached in time so that the flood water gushed into the pond area. Bodla was recently promoted to the post of XEN after allegedly bypassing other candidates. Official sources have disclosed that when the water level in the barrage was increasing the Irrigation secretary, the SDO and the head PMO Qadri, who is a retired chief
Asif Zardari got married to Tanveer Zamani according to Muslim Shiyat Bylaws in Dubai last week. The ceremony has not been held. However the marriage religious vows, paper work and prenuptials have been confirmed. Nine black goats, 6 cows and 1 camel was sacrificed at this sacred occasion. This happened 3 years after the assassination of Slain Bhutto. She is a Mediterranean descent American resident, and she lives in Gramercy Park, Manhattan, New York. Zamani is a practicing physician and known to be a Bhutto party loyalist. She earned PhD degree in International Politics from UK. She owns estates in London, Dubai, Islamabad and Manhattan. Zamani is a known Democrat and supported Obama’s 2008 election campaign. She actively participated in Obama’sHealth Care reform bill to make it a law. Recently, she has been prohibited to attend the public political meetings due to her security issues. Pres. Zardari in a meeting with Obama on 1/14/11 in DC, requested his help in acquiring security for Zamani. Zardari is the widower of Benazir Bhutto, who twice served as Prime Minister of Pakistan. When his wife was assassinated in December 2007, he became the Chairman of the PPP. It has been claimed that Zardari is among the four richest men in Pakistan. In the 1988 elections, Bhutto became Prime Minister, and Zardari became a member of the National Assembly of Pakistan. Zardari’s opponents began using the nickname, “Mr 10%”, in reference to the charges of corruption against him. This nickname referred to kickbacks he was alleged to have received during his wife’s premiership. He served in Jail from 1990 -1993 and 1997-2004. It has been noticed that with the advent of Zamani in his life for the last 8 months, he has been changed a lot. A lot has been blogged about them on the web. He seemed to find refuge in trusting her loyalty to him more than the party. The couple might have faced many domestic, social and political issues before they decided to turn this long distance, under cover- relationship into a life time partnership. It is welcomed as a wise decision since it is according to their religious perquisites and he needs a loyal partner in his life who could support him spiritually, physically and financially at his worse times. To choose a life partner might be a difficult decision for him before meeting Zamani, but she made it an easy shot to play since she seems not someone who would marry him for his assets and power. Pres. Zardari made a good deal to marry an American citizen, since next time he would not go to a prison , he will be pulled out by her to Manhattan. It is presumed that the couple will be officially announced at the end of his political Presidency term. Obviously, not until after the next elections. Will the party or Zardari loose a lot of popularity he cashed after the death of his ex- wife? Or Zamani will give him a new fame, name, and a life with the happiness that he never found in the last one. His children Bakhtawar , Bilawal and Aseefa must understand the needs of their father who after taking care of their mother’s party has already proven his Loyalty to Bhuttos. Now, its their turn to let him move on with Zamani and spend in Manhattan a life he deserves. Many media analyst are still trying to find an evidence before they jump into this leak. They wonder what is behind this marriage; Love, political move or Wealth. The event was supposed to be an undisclosed sentinel secret, but it is released through a fashion designer company by a UAE news agency The fact is none of the parties have denied this leaked news yet.
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