Advocate Liaqat Hussain
THERE has been an old Urdu saying which reads the student who remembers his lesson, will not be allowed to leave. Same is the case with Karachi. The city which is considered the economic hub and mini Pakistan is deprived of its right economically, politically and socially. In my opinion, the worst-case scenario with Karachi is that it has under-estimated population owing to political purposes.
Officially the population of Karachi is 1.5 crore. Even it is the statement of the former Chief Justice of Pakistan and the Co-chairman of Pakistan Peoples, Party Asif Ali Zardari that Karachi has a population of more than 3 crore. At the present Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) has 3 crore 60 lacs population due to which the province has 65 seats in National Assembly. Therefore if the population of Karachi is truly censored, it will deserve more than 40 seats in the National Assembly.
Moreover, the empowered local government is the first step towards democracy. But, unfortunately, only dictators had a role in strengthening local bodies. Even after the 18th Amendment provinces did not devolve their powers to local governments. Currently, there are multiple problems which should be under the jurisdiction of Mayor is performed by CM Sindh. Interestingly performance exists only in major cities like Karachi, Hyderabad etc because of the pressure of media and to mould the public opinion in cities. And other parts of Sindh have no authorities in emergency situations. In addition to this, there are a number of flyovers in Karachi, still many are under construction. They should not be there instead policymakers should have pursued the bus services. The money which is used on the construction of flyovers is better to be used on the construction of the bus tracks. This will obviously decrease the traffic issues and there will be fewer bikes and cars on the roads.
It is a view of various policymakers that uncongested mobility is a solution to traffic problems in Karachi. However, there is the study of Walton on Bangalore city of India that it is not congestant mobility which is the problem of Bangalore but the obstructions which are putting hinders in the path of buses, cars, bikes are the actual problem of Bangalore. Same is the case with Karachi. It also has obstructions such as on I. I Chandigarh Road Saddar, from Mazar-e-Quaid to jail Choorangi. Currently, after the heaviest rain in Karachi, the policymakers have realised to remove the encroachment from nullahs. Similarly, Karachi Circular Railway has the same problem. In both cases, the government should give another land with certain incentives to the people. Otherwise again they will occupy land somewhere else which will be problematic in future. If the government ignores the demands of people there is more probability of chances that they will commit crimes to fulfil their livelihood.
Furthermore, every resident benefits from Karachi but no-one owns it as his or her city. Most of the people do not have affiliation with this city but they are more inclined to their ancestor’s cities. If you do not take the ownership you will not care about the city. Every resident of Karachi must have experienced the parking issue at least at once and seen the people while parking their cars and bikes that they are demanding for twenty rupees as parking charges. I am still unable to comprehend who they are? where the money goes? Interestingly if you are looking for to approach High Court for a petition against these people. Trust me you will not find parking over there for your vehicles.
There are many think-thanks that opine that Article (149A) is the solution to Karachi’s problems. It is the local government which can administrate this city in a better way. Every successful democracy has a strong local government look at London, York etc. There should be a separate administrative system of this city to ensure efficient and coordinative atmosphere. Our Neighbour India has more than 30 administrative units. Nigeria which had three provinces at the time of creation has 36 provinces currently To sum up this I would like to draw the attention of policymakers to correct the calculation of the numbers of people of Karachi. And to take practical and feasible measures so that the city of lights can be converted in its true essence. Prosperity and development in Karachi with cooperation and coordination is key to success.
—The writer is Karachi based lawyer.
