The judicial commission, headed by Justice Mansoor Ali Shah of Lahore High Court (LHC) to determine possibility of involvement of influential personages behind the disintegration of protective embankments and dykes, has completed its inquiry report.
A member of the commission Engineer Shafqat Mahmud told Business Recorder that the commission visited Jinnah Barrage, Taunsa, Kot Addu, Muzaffargarh and recorded statements of more than one hundred flood-affected persons to determine causes of breaches in dykes and canals during the devastating floods in River Indus in the monsoon season.
The commission also recorded statements of departmental representatives of environment, communication and works, etc to formulate its report with regard to the complaints regarding breakdown of dykes and wilfully breaching them.
It also inspected different spots of protective embankments and bunds and penned down evidences. This investigative report would be dispatched to the government determining the responsibility in a month's time, Mahmud added. Punjab Chief Minister, Shahbaz Sharif had directed to set up a judicial commission for inquiry into the incidents of breaking and breaches in the dykes and water spurs in the province.
The government estimated losses by floods to more than Rs 107 billion losses, seeking around Rs 25 billion from the federal government as compensation for restoring the communication network. As per estimates, 3,000 villages, 8.2 million people, 5.23 million acres of land and crops over 3.5 million acres were affected by floods. As many as 100 people were also killed and 500,000 houses levelled.