PPP demands probe into breach of dyke in Muzaffargarh

* PPP Punjab acting chief says late opening of Taunsa Barrage gates should also be probed

* Asks Shahbaz to call regular meetings of cabinet to review flood situation

Staff Report

LAHORE: The Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) has demanded the Punjab government to hold an impartial inquiry into the breach of a dyke in Muzaffargarh, which had been created allegedly to save Dera Ghazi Khan, the hometown of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) stalwart Sardar Zulfiqar Khosa.

Addressing a press conference, Punjab PPP acting president Samiullah Khan Durrani said his party had serious reservations about the breach of dyke, as Muzaffargarh was a stronghold of his party and they could not remain silent in this situation.

He said PML-Quaid opposition leader in the Punjab Assembly Chaudhry Zaheerudin had also accused the Punjab government of breaching the dyke, as a result of which Muzaffargarh had been inundated. He alleged the government devastated a large area only to save the hometown of its provincial leadership.

Durrani also demanded the Punjab government to probe the allegations raised by the PML-Q leaders about late opening of the Taunsa Barrage gates, which inundated dozens of villages in southern Punjab. He alleged that thousands of people had been displaced due to unwise acts of the provincial government.

Supporting the PPP’s parliamentary leader in provincial assembly Raja Riaz Ahmad, who is also the provincial irrigation minister, Samiullah urged Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif to call regular meetings of the provincial cabinet to tackle the flood situation in Punjab as well as take the PPP’s ministers, especially Raja Riaz, into confidence regarding the strategy and measures taken by the government to help of flood effectees.

He condemned propaganda of ‘anti-state actors’ against Bakhtawar Bhutto Zardari’s efforts to collect maximum funds for the flood-hit victims. He said the media was playing a positive role in the situation but some media persons were busy in sabotaging the people’s efforts with their special aim to spread depression in the nation.

He said the PPP Punjab had already sent 40 trucks of essential items to seven districts of southern Punjab while more than 700 party workers were volunteering in flood-hit areas.

Providing details about the damages due to recent flood wave, he said that around 12 to 20 million people and around one million livestock had been affected while more than 10 million acres of cultivated land had totally been ruined. He also said more than one million houses had been damaged.

The PPP leader said he had called a general meeting of all the party heads from 28 districts of the province, former nazims, and other leaders. The meeting will be held at Alhamra on Sunday and Punjab Governor Salmaan Taseer will preside it, he concluded.

PPP Punjab Deputy Secretary Malik Usman and other office-bearers were also present in the press conference.

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