Sindh High Court’s (SHC) Hyderabad circuit bench has criticized National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) over massive discrepancies and contradictions in its report regarding the flood-hit regions of the country.
The bench, comprising Justice Mohammad Iqbal Kalhoro and Justice Adnan-ul-Karim, remarked that the amount of petitions filed against the authority demonstrates the public’s dissatisfaction with its performance.
SHC further told the NDMA that it will send the magistrates to reinspect the flood-hit areas in order to determine if the situation has improved. It also warned of strict action if magistrates’ reports display unsatisfactory performance.
Furthermore, NDMA’s official, Mohammad Allauddin, received a rebuke from Justice Kalhoro for failing to ensure that relief supplies reached flood victims. He reprimanded NDMA and said that the ground reality displays that nothing has changed.
Justice Kalhoro further asked the official the reasons behind the massive contradictions between NDMA’s report and ground reality. To this, the official said that the National Relief Committee (NRC) has been devised. However, Justice Kalhoro reminded the official that the authority has a treasury and it has to be held accountable for it.
Moreover, increasing cases of dengue and malaria also came to the light during the hearing. In this regard, the focal person of Chief Secretary Sindh, Dr. Saeed Ahmad Magnejo, informed the court that the government is working to overcome the situation since the beginning of the issues.
During the hearing, the Director General (DG) of the Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) Sindh, Salman Shah, admitted to the mediocre performance of the authority in the flood relief operations.
In addition, Justice Kalhoro directed the relevant authorities to remove the encroachments near waterways as a precautionary measure.
The court ordered NDMA and PDMA Sindh to provide a preliminary report to the court within 15 days and adjourned the hearing till 10 November 2022.
