The Kidney Hill Park – The Next Big Thing in the Metropolitan

At first glance it looks like a scene from Beverly Hills or some place in Vienna captured under the full moon. The scenery it surrounds is eye-catching and serenity it depicts touches hearts. The environs here looks splendid, calm and captivating. One surely love to arrive here to catch the infinity of sky, to feel the gravity of aura and to breathe for refreshing as well as rejuvenating.  However, you need not to go outside Karachi to experience this scenic view.

Located in Kokan Society adjacent to Shaheed e Millat Road, and named after renowned town planner Ahmed Ali, the Kidney Hill Park is actually a state-of-the-art urban forest in the megacity. It is an incomparable ecological and entertainment resource for Karachites, spread over 62 acre hilly and sprawling land. More than 40,000 trees of 47 species have been planted here so far. And, the great thing is all of them are indigenous plants of Pakistan. There are shrubs, bushes, trees of native fruits and flowers for rejoicing, besides plenty of greenery and shades of trees to offer coolness to visitors. The Park is surely a definite attempt to better the environment of the metropolitan and arrest the perils of climate change. 

Another good thing about the Kidney Hill Park is all the beauty and simplicity of nature has been tried to be preserved here. As all unkempt trees and shrubs have been groomed, while the trails have been cleaned and flattened to make them easier to traverse. Water pounds for birds are specially developed, while stray dogs have also been removed from the park with the help of the Edhi Welfare Foundation.

The haphazard construction and aimless development of Karachi city has always been a serious concern. The public parks and recreation areas are also no exception. Almost all the public parks in Karachi were developed without applying sensibility. Rarely native trees are available in gardens here, while mostly foreign species like Conocarpus or Eucalyptus were used for beautification – both are often cited as “eco-unfriendly” by various environmentalist. There is scarcity in planning, tracks and pathways were designed very static or customary inside gardens, the ambiance is cosmetic and there is nothing for nature lovers.

On the other hand the Kidney Hill Park has been developed without defecting any hilly segment of it and maintaining it’s natural plateaus and trails, which gives a true sense of nature and positivity.

With the rising pollution in the city, the air purify index of Karachi is getting alarming day by day. Though, it is not as lethal as of Lahore, but toxic emissions from vehicles along with tons of asphalt and concrete have made the metropolitan prone to heat island effect, causing hundreds of deaths annually. Having thousands of shady and indigenous trees inside, which also provide coolness and lessen the temperature, the Kidney Hill Park is truly a land of pure oxygen to fill your lungs and an escapism from dense and polluted commutation. 

In the last, the local government authorities deserve credit to protect this park from encroachments and develop it with meagre resources. Specially the Karachi Municipal Commissioner Dr. Saif ur Rehman needs to mention here who stood up to the pressure and has taken personal care to re-establish it, which had been closed some fifty years ago.

 

ByEditorial, Infocus

A City of Two Summers

Second summer during the months of September October is a known phenomenon in Karachi. That’s why in the third week of September when the entire country is in the grip of heavy rainfall the residents of the city are confronted with sizzling 41 degree centigrade. 

Last year the daytime temperature in Karachi during September also crossed 40 degree Celsius and Pakistan Metrological Department (PMD) issued a five-day heat wave warning due to low pressure in Arabian Sea off the Indian Coast which lessened the sea breeze along the Pakistan coast line. This year the sea breeze again stopped blowing under the influence of a low air pressure formed in the Bay of Bengal.

Due to the changing in weather patterns the monsoon season has passed away this year in Karachi without rainfall. The 2018 was already recorded as the hottest year not only in Karachi and Pakistan but worldwide. However, the consequences of that can be traced more visibly in the megacity of more than 20 million inhabitants. During the first two weeks of September there used to be some good rains in Karachi and thereafter the monsoon completely withdrew from city. However, this year because of without rain the weather has remained largely sunny, drier and with higher humidity, making living, specially outdoor activities, difficult here.

Karachi has long been witnessing its driest monsoon spell since the last two decades with zero millimeters of precipitation recorded by the PMD. The monsoon season in the provincial capital starts from July and lasts till the middle of September and yet no significant rainfall has been recorded till now at the end of the season and prospects of rainfall in October are also very less.

Many consider Karachi as a city of two summers. Pre monsoon summer of April-May and post monsoon summer of September-October. As official data suggests the highest temperature recorded in the city in the month of September was 42.8 degree Celsius recorded on the 30^th in 1951.

To control the changes in weather in pattern is a long-time issue and it’s not in the capacity of local or provincial governments. The city needs specific methodology. It’s time to develop a special climate commission for Karachi with specialists of environment, weather, water and horticulture who devise a strategy to cater the ongoing climatic conditions and shape up a better future. One needs to follow the Government of Punjab which has recently initiated a Punjab Clean Air Commission in Lahore and other cities to specifically control pollution and vagaries smog.

Through Punjab Clean Air Commission, various committees have been established at town and district levels for monitoring of measures to control environment pollution. The committees also monitor that the brick kilns remain closed as per court’ orders, ban on crops burning must be followed and a people-friendly strategy for the closure of two-stroke engines, motorcycle rickshaws and smoke emitting vehicles would be sought.

Karachi really needs this kind of strategy, otherwise we are not going to see rain and feel coolness anywhere in the city.

   

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Editorial, Infocus

Islamabad; Enemy of its Own Environs

It seems the only enemy left before Islamabad now is it’s own green cover, as the capital doesn’t want to give any space for trees and greenery in its limitation. Either chopped down on the name of development or set to fire by unknown people, flora of any kind really has no future in Islamabad. The result is obvious. For continuous three weeks in May 2018, Islamabad soared above 40 degrees when outdoor mobility got extremely difficult. That led the Met Office DG Dr Ghulam Rasul to believe the prolonged heat spell without any rainfall was unusual for Islamabad.

Since the last couple of years, incidents of chopping down trees have been a routine phenomenon of the capital environment woes. Some 750 fully grown and decades-old trees, 3800 small trees along with several shurbs were cut down during the construction of Metro Bus project in 2015. Then same year in July more than 300 trees of mulberry, pear and other fruits rooted out gain for the expansion of Islamabad Expressway.

In May 2017 according to NESPAK around a thousand trees of upto 100 years became prey to Metro Bus Service extension from Peshawar Morr to connect the city from the New Islamabad International Airport.  In October last year the CDA cut down around 250 trees at Embassy Road for the expansion of vehicular traffic movement. Earlier unaccounted trees were also chopped along the Attaturk Road only to further lanes. On the other hand, Ahsan Iqbal briefed in Senate this year that thousands of paper mulberry trees are yet be rooted out from Islamabad because these trees are causing health problems.

Beside untapped cutting of trees in capital the fire incidents at Margalla Hills National Park is a routine exercise since a half decade. The site is an expensive tract at the foothills of the greater Himalayas, alongside Shakarparian Park and Rawal Lake. Established in 1980, the Park covers 67.13 square miles and rich in biodiversity of fauna and flora.

Only in the month of May in 2016 eight wildfires were reported while in April next year over three acres of forest was burnt in a single fire incident. This year on 31^st March fire broke out behind Daman e Koh of the Margala Hills and ruined three to four acres of land in a single day. Then four incidents held in April reducing hundreds of acres of pristine land and flora to cinders.    

Then in May two different fires broke out behind Saidpur Village and Daman e Koh point and spread over ten to twelve acres. Since the first week of June a wildfire has been raging and turned uncountable trees into ashes. This is recorded as the worst fire incident which has affected more than six hectares of land. Most of trees were of pine which take decades to get developed and fully grown.

Usually these incidents occur between April 15 and July 15 when temperature is high. However, it is widely believed these trees are deliberately torched every year by timber mafia and hunters.  First the trees are cut and then the area is torched to cover up the crime.

Does the city really needs any more enemy?

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Editorial, Infocus

Advertising Walls for "Defense Purpose". Lol.

We are living in a consumer world, where pricing rules over principles. When walls of Karachi’ most important Christians’ graveyard are rented out to use for advertising Muslims’ TV Ramzan shows, perhaps it says everything about justifying absurdity of billboards and outdoor publicity.

But the most driveling justification for these outdoor publicity walls came from the horses’ mouth. The CEO of Karachi Cantonment Board says before apex court that these “walls were built for defence purpose”. One wonders for defence purpose trenches can be dug around garrison areas but constructing walls have no purpose. On the other hand, the former PPP-led government dug the city on the name of development in a way that even Pakistan’ worst enemy would think it worthless to land in the city.

Second, does a nuclear power really needs concrete walls for defence? If yes, then without delay even bigger advertising walls must be built across the country. Forget fencing at borders build concrete walls and advertise any cooking oil or telecom product to save country rom evil’s eye. Forget armed personals and hire good copywriters who could write or develop tempting campaigns for markets.   

The CEO of Karachi Cantonment actually didn’t clarify what does he mean from “defense purpose”. Neither he had idea about what he had to defend before apex court. One can guess he meant to defend the consumer base. No body wants to lose customers in a megacity. Karachi really is a competitive market where only the fittest can survive. The Cantonments and Defence Authorities are really the fittest party and they don’t need to hide behind walls.

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Editorial, Infocus      

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