HYDERABAD, Aug 21: The deputy registrar of the Sindh High Court, Hyderabad circuit bench, Ghulam Mustafa Channa, on Wednesday informed the division bench of the Sindh High Court that the possibility of weakening the protective embankment of the River Indus could not be ruled out in case it was again excavated for removing the existing pipeline of M/s Clariant Ltd.

He submitted his report after he visited the site under the directives of the court issued on Aug 15 on an application filed by the Nazima, union council Jamshoro, Naima Baloch, who filed a constitution petition, claiming that the excavation work on the embankment would expose the lives of the people to imminent danger.

The deputy registrar visited the site along with the petitioner and the respondent irrigation officials.

In his report, he claimed that the work for laying an eight-inch polyethylene pipeline to supply water to M/S Clariant was in progress. It was laid after excavation of the right side of the marginal bund below the formation level of the embankment.

The official said that 95 per cent of the work had been completed as the pipeline had been laid for a kilometre.

The official quoted the executive engineer, Irrigation, Kotri Barrage, Zaheer-ul Hasnain, who was also present during the inspection, as saying that two water supply lines already existed. The first was laid in 1968, while the second was laid in 1993 about 150 ft away from the right side of the marginal bund.

The deputy registrar said that the executive engineer was unable to show any portion of the existing pipeline which had been repaired or replaced and it had been functioning properly.

The court official further quoted the executive engineer as saying that after supplying of water through the new pipeline the bund would again be excavated and the existing pipeline would be removed and the bund would be restored in its original shape.

The court official said that but from the work being carried out at the bund, it appeared that the existing pipeline would not be removed as the bund was being restored in its original form. He added that as per the statement of the irrigation official if it was again excavated in order to remove the existing pipeline, the possibility of the bund being weakened and damaged could not be ruled out.

The report has been taken on record.

M/S Clariant Pakistan filed an application through Advocate Raees Mushtaque, praying the court to allow them to join the petition.

The matter has been adjourned for Sept 3.

In her petition, the Nazima of the union council, Jamshoro, Naima Baloch, claimed that by virtue of an agreement dated August 17, 1968 between the government and M/S Clariant Pakistan Limited, Jamshoro, the supply of water to the company was sanctioned from the Indus River.

She said as per the terms of the agreement, the company had agreed to lay the water pipeline below the formation level of the bund.

She said that the company had violated the agreement by laying the pipeline on the embankment.

She said that 34 years ago the water level of the river used to be much higher than what it was now.