AS Karachi reels under a crumbling infrastructure and a near collapse of civic amenities, Minister for Law and Justice Farogh Naseem on Wednesday hinted at taking the administrative control of the country’s economic hub by invoking Article 149 (4) of the constitution, which is all set to trigger a strong response from the provincial government of Sindh.
There is no doubt that the situation in Karachi is bad and its infrastructure is lying in tatters. Recent monsoon rains really exposed the inadequacy of both the provincial and local governments to deal with such a situation. This speaks volumes of the negligence meted out to improve the basic infrastructure in the city which contributes immensely to the country’s overall economy. It is really heartening to note that the federal government is giving serious consideration to address the woes of the people of Karachi and Prime Minister Imran Khan also formed a Committee headed by the Law Minister to work out plans to address the issues being faced by the residents of Karachi but all this should be done without the impression that the politics is at play. As regards Article 149(4) is concerned, the Law Minister clarified that promulgation of Article 149(4) is meant to take the administrative control of Karachi without imposing emergency or the Governor rule. But, such a step will not augur well for overall political environment in the country and evoke a strong response from the Government of Sindh. Therefore, in our view, it is important that both the federal and provincial governments, whilst rising above politics and petty differences, join hands to address the longstanding problems of Karachi. By sitting together, they should evolve a comprehensive and holistic plan for Karachi envisaging measures to address the issues pertaining to transport, unabated growth of informal settlements, potable water management, collection of solid waste and unbridled commercialization and commodification of land. The implementation of such a plan again should be free of political consideration and both the provincial and local governments should be entrusted specific targets for its implementation in letter and spirit to bring ease in the lives of Karachites.
