LARKANA: The Larkana circuit bench of the Sindh High Court on Tuesday ordered deputy commissioners of Larkana division to constitute citizen committees and establish tent cities in all talukas of the division, and asked the officers concerned to ensure that no miscreant breached dykes of any saline water and sewage drain and water channel.

The bench comprising Justices Naimatullah Phulpoto and Khadim Hussain Tunio passed the order on a petition filed by two advocates, Rafiq Ahmed K. Abro and Sarfraz Khan Jatoi, seeking tents, food and medicines for the rain and flood victims.

The court said the citizen committees should also be formed in the talukas of Mehar and Khairpur Nathan Shah and all the committees should be headed by civil judges.

The bench asked district and session judges to notify the committees and observed after hearing additional advocate general (AAG), commissioner and other officers concerned that unprecedented rains and flood had caused destruction of property, public health infrastructure, loss of lives and damage to certain portions of Indus Highway.

It said that millions of people in the province had sustained substantial damage to their houses, crops and livestock in the absence of a proper system to rescue the rain victims and provide them food, tents, potable water and health facilities in all talukas of the province, particularly Lar­kana division.

The officials had failed to provide shelters equipped with basic facilities to internally displaced persons (IDPs), who were forced to live under open sky along roads in squalid conditions after finding no other recourse, it said.

The officials who were present in the court claimed that they had rescued and provided basic facilities to the victims but the petitioners contested their claim saying that ground realities were entirely different as the IDPs were crying for food, health facilities and shelter, which were their fundamental rights, they said.

The court was informed that some influential persons were breaching dykes of water channels to serve their interests without caring for the rain victims and thus adding to their miseries.

It directed the National High­way Authority to restore traffic on the Indus Highway, which had become impassable at certain points, causing great inconvenience to general public.

The court asked DCs of Larkana, Qambar-Shahdadkot, Shikarpur, Jacobabad and Kashmore-Kan­dhkot districts to establish one or more tent cities in their talukas to provide shelter to scattered IDPs.

The bench ordered the Provincial Disaster Management Authority to ensure food, clean water, clothes and other basic facilities, including washrooms to the IDPs and take action against misappropriation, pilferage and sale of relief items meant for the victims.

The district and session judges concerned would supervise the steps taken by the officials, said the order.

The court ordered the DCs, district health officers, superintendent engineer of irrigation, public health department officials to personally appear in the court along with compliance reports on Sept 8.

As the petition come up for hearing, Larkana commissioner along with all five DCs of Larkana, Jacobabad, Shikarpur, Qambar-Shahdadkot and Kashmore and other officers concerned appeared before the judges and two of the respondents filed comments while Additional Advocate General sought more time to file the rest of the comments.

Published in Dawn, September 7th, 2022