On Sunday April 22,
almost entire Karachi suffered 10-hour load shedding, which was unscheduled and
unexpected. Next day Prime Minister Khaqan Abbasi arrived in Karachi, held
meeting with KESC and SSGC officials but came out without any concrete solution.
Though, the PM assured Karachites the issue of electricity would resolve in 15
days and directed the SSGC to resume required gas supply to KESC, besides
forming a committee headed under Muftah Ismail to settle the issue of outstanding
dues between KESC and SSGC. The fact is nothing was resolved and power crisis
exists till this date in scorching weather.
Earlier last month when
milk crisis appeared in metropolis, all the city admins including Commissioner
Karachi and KMC were unable to tame milk farmers, who increased milk prices at
will and nobody had a clue how to deal with the situation. The result is local
consumers are bound to purchase milk on inflated rates.
The Karachites,
therefore, really have a sense of deprivation and complain lack of representation
in provincial and federal set-ups, and specially in decision making related to
Karachi. The cabinets of provincial governments in 2008 and 2013 hardly had any
legislative member elected from Karachi. However, the sense of deprivation accelerated
with the departure of the last representative of Karachi from decisional set-up
some 15 months ago. Though Governorship is a ceremonial post but the fact is,
due to the rural-urban dynamics of Sindh, the slot of Governorship has been traditionally
filled through any citizen of Karachi. The most populated and biggest city of
Pakistan was represented in national or provincial set-up via Sindh Governor
and its residents have been relying on the channel of Governorship to address their
problems and get them solved.
Thanks to law enforcement
agencies, the crime rate has declined and security situation is improved in the
city. In spite a representational vacuum still persists which depicts the
shallowness of the society. It is hard to digest but the truth is Karachi is in
state of inertia since few years. A series of socio-civic and administrative
problems are haunting the city. And, more than one and half dozen civic bodies
are blaming each other for these crises instead of devising to resolve
something. Water’ scarcity and contamination, sanitation overflow and
encroached drains, gross solid waste mismanagement, transport and traffic jams,
unchecked migration and rising of unregularized Goths, as well as health and
environmental devastation on the name of development projects in the city, the
list goes on and on. No system and developmental mechanism exists, so the
result is, half of the city is dug-up, green cover is vanished and hospitals
are over-capacitated. A chaos is rampant in the city, which seems aimless and
endless.
Now who is to blame and
come out to solve these issues at present. Provincial Government and district
metropolitan corporations are not at speaking terms with each other. On the
other hand Sindh Government blames federal government for delaying funds in
development projects. The CM walked out from National Economic Council meeting
citing reservations on development programs. Pace of federal government
projects like K-IV and Rapid Mass Transit System is slow and complains of lack
of cooperation from local and provincial authorities have been surfaced. The
KCR has been shelved once again because of conflicts between provincial and
federal government and one doubts the project would never see the daylight. Cantonment
areas and DMCs have administrative heads from diverse political groups, who
have little care for their subjects and involved in pity issues. Most
importantly all these civic agencies lack cooperation and coordination because
of which aimless schemes of basic amenities are at halt or in chaotic
conditions. And, there is no one who can
advocate Karachi.
Although, all these
things don’t come in the domain of Sindh Governorship, but very fewer former
Governors like Dr. Ishrat ul Ebad was such man, who was capable to coordinate
things in diversities. He did command respect in all civic bodies, kept pace up
with everyone, resolve dispute among institutions and on him all the social communities
of the metropolis like businessmen, traders, shopkeepers, religious scholars,
NGOs, legislative and administrative bodies trusted and complied to him. In
reality, the dynamics of the megacity is different from other cities of
Pakistan and can be best addressed only by a representative, belonged to this
city. Very few deny, that if Dr. Ishrat
ul Ebad were still the Governor of Sindh, not only the present power crisis or
milk problem would have been better addressed but to a certain extent resolved too
in the interest of public. He really mastered in resolving such emergencies.
Dr. Ishrat served more
than 14 years as Governor of Sindh, the longest serving Governor of Pakistan.
His era has arguably been a constructive era for Karachi, when residents here used
to feel some sort of sense of representation in decisional set-up. Dr. Ishrat also
had some better qualities to lead.
Managing a megacity is not an easy job. There are ethnic communities, religious
groups, trader associations, political parties, business tycoons,
educationists, NGOs. But he had the capability to console and craft a win-win situation
for everyone. Hardly anyone came back dissatisfied after meeting with him.
No doubt, the present
Governor Muhammad Zubair is also a very dedicated and nice person. But he has
hardly succeeded in resolving crisis between political governments and among
civil institutions in emergency situations. Though it is questionable why Governor
House in Sindh today serves as a political drawing room which showcases peoples
are joining his party PML(N) and taking oath from party president. That didn’t
happen during the tenure of Dr. Ebad or even any other Pakistani Governor era. Yet,
Muhammad Zubair is working hard and has proved to be a good person. But is he
good enough for Karachi, one reserves his comments.
By
Editorial, Infocus
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