By: Asem Mustafa Awan
Prime Minister Imran Khan promise of million houses can come true as millions are now faced with a situation for which planning was not done thanks to incompetent government officials who amassed millions and delivered nothing.
Karachi one of the mega city of the world in the recent rains have oozed all out to make a show case for the world that with incompetent and corrupt city administration life is next to impossible in urban and concrete jungle.
Many a millions who have lost their houses due to floods and many a millions fear they will lose their houses. The eminent threat which has made a panic wave in the Karachi and resulted in protests are from the dwellers who made their houses close to the three sewage streams that pass through Karachi.
These sewage streams have been choked with city waste and years have passed with governments doing nothing to clean them despite have a force that was drawing wages and doing nothing very much like the ghosts schools which only existed in papers.
Water is everywhere and people have nothing no food, no water and nothing much to live on, it is feared if government and its officials don’t sit down and make a strategy the loss of lives is going to be colossal with Dengue larvae getting ready to make their presence felt.
The labyrinth of problems faced by Prime Minister Imran Khan and his team has resulted in an unending misery.
Masses after two years of PM IK in office wanted to see results not slogans how many of corrupts have been hanged. These corrupt officials and politicians made millions and billions and their actions resulted in loss of lives to many.
A simple case study for an investigating official if it exists in government of Pakistan who can just ask people living by the sewage stream as which offices provide them with gas and electricity meters. If these questions results in answers the case is half solved. The chain from their can lead to the corrupt officials all the way to the top who possibly after thriving on sucking the blood of the poor are millionaires besides dual nationals.
Government of Pakistan in resolving the case made many a people curse them with their hearts content started demolishing their houses.
Instead of taking the corrupt to task the ‘reinvention of wheel’ is what is seen from government side. Those who have provided the services and sold the land they should be made an example and money should be recovered from them as first penalty for cleaning the sewage streams.
The system in ‘land of the pure’ works in reverse, what is seen is never seen and expect the unexpected is the established norm.
The foul smelling stench from sewage water will have many a diseases coming out. Immediate action is needed with city and town planners joining their hands minus the unprofessional politicians and others to make the city sail.
It is also coming in the media that a leading housing society in order to make money closed the sewage stream and made millions in real estate.
Prime Minister Imran Khan can start its accountability campaign by taking these individuals to task who have choked the sewage stream and those officials who provided gas and electricity connections to squatters. It is crystal clear as a daylight that money exchanged hands and their corruption resulted in sinking of the ‘city of lights’ which now nothing more than that of a ‘wasteland’.
The foul smelling stench from sewage water will have many a diseases coming out. Immediate action is needed with city and town planners joining their hands minus the unprofessional politicians and others to make the city sail.
Things will not be same as they should be. This event should make authorities realize that if corruption and incompetency is not checked the second wave may drown the whole city and the city so called ‘stalwarts’ may not get a chance to board their planes for their chosen ‘dream destinations’.
The wrap up the whole debate the latest happening is the Balochistan Model Court decision on acquittal of former Member Provincial Assembly Majid Khan Achakzai,whose Land Cruiser crushed Traffic Police Sub Inspector Haji Ataullah on June 20, 2017 on Zarghon Road. The decision was announced in favour of the politician over lack of evidence.
The CCTV footage, First Investigation Report, Jirga and everything that has happened in the past were put aside as if they never existed or mattered.
The state disowning its lowly subjects clearly shows something is not right in ‘land of the pure’.
The question arise if Pakistan is in dark ages and might is right then government can do as it please but if there is rule of law and law of the land exist a number of studies can be carried out.
For any social scientist Karachi with its plethora of problems is a classic case of mega city turning wasteland.
Things will not be same as they should be. This event should make authorities realize that if corruption and incompetency is not checked the second wave may drown the whole city and the city so called ‘stalwarts’ may not get a chance to board their planes for their chosen ‘dream destinations’
Corruption of officials, incompetency of state functionaries, lawlessness of the public, land grabbers, ethnic divisions and many more are existing in Karachi which not long ago was called ‘city of lights’ but at present is nothing but wetlands and soon to be ‘wasteland’.
Karachi floods in particular and overall floods in Pakistan show government capacity and preparedness for the unforeseen. In simple words if the current scenario is summed up in one line it is clear as day light policy makers in Pakistan have no clue what is plan for rainy days.