KARACHI, Oct 22: The chief engineer of the Guddu barrage informed the Sindh High Court on Friday that the Tori dyke breach was a natural calamity that could not have been averted despite all humanly possible efforts.

A division bench headed by Chief Justice Sarmad Jalal Osmany was seized with two identical petitions against the dyke breaches and the constitution of an inquiry commission.One of the petitions was filed by Mumtaz Bhutto and Liaquat Jatoi (former Sindh chief ministers), Syed Jalal Mehmood Shah and Syed Shah Mohammed Shah who impleaded Sindh Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah and Irrigation Minister Saifullah Dharejo as respondents.

They submitted that the government's decision to cause breaches in the Tori, Ghouspur Loop and B.S. Feeder embankments was illegal and the floodwater spilling from the breached embankments resulted in the loss of many lives and displacement of millions of people.

The second petition was filed by Abdul Mujeeb Pirzada, a senior lawyer, who alleged that the breaches were caused at Tori Bund to save properties of Senator Islamuddin Shaikh, MNA Khursheed Shah, MPA Javed Shah and Special Assistant to the Chief Minister Pehlaj Rai.

He cited the federal water and power secretary, the Sindh chief secretary, the provincial law secretary, two members of the inquiry commission Ghulam Nabi Soomro and Zahid Qurban Alvi — both former SHC judges — the provincial irrigation secretary and the federal law and justice ministry as respondents.

In his statement filed on Advocate Pirzada's petition, Chief Engineer Zafarullah Mahar submitted that the petitioner's contention about causing an artificial cut at Ali Wahan village was not correct as giving an artificial cut at any site was neither permitted in engineering books nor in the dyke manual and it would have made another disaster to the people living on the left side of the river embankment.

His statement said that the irrigation department and the army tried their level best to contain the water at the second line of defence that was old Ghauspur loop dyke but the high intensity of spilling of Tori water, which was further intensified with heavy downpour, ceased the movement of the machinery and the second line could not sustain.

Beside, he stated, a desperate effort was made to hold the water at the bank of B.S. Feeder canal but since the canal embankment was not designed as per dyke specifications it did not also bear the pressure and water went out.

He submitted that except the said portion of the Tori dyke, all the dykes of 205 miles in length were saved with all-out efforts.

He submitted that the government started a rescue operation after the flood and the flood-affected people were transported to safer places.

Advocate Pirzada submitted in the petition that a breach was caused through deliberate, intentional and criminal negligence in the protection embankment at Tori, located some 80 kilometres north of Sukkur on the right bank of the Indus, to safeguard the interests of the people belonging to the ruling party.

In his petition, he submitted that the breach caused a manmade disaster leaving seven million people homeless, 50 per cent of them permanently displaced.

The petitioner stated that 2.5 million acres cultivated land was inundated and 50 per cent of the fertile irrigated land of Balochistan was destroyed due to an illegal breach in Tori Bund.

He stated that an illegal and powerless inquiry commission was constituted with retired SHC judges as its members to cover up and tamper with the evidence.

He prayed to the court to declare that the notification for the inquiry commission, if any, was illegal and without any lawful authority and the proceedings before it be stayed.

The court adjourned the hearing to Oct 29.