Zubair Qureshi
Owing to the massive display of disinterest and neglect on part of the Metropolitan Corporation of Islamabad (MCI), federal capital’s parks, gardens and orchards are in a shambles giving the looks of overgrown grass. Despite drawing monthly salaries, more than 1700 sanitary staff under the MCI including 350 gardeners and their supervisors, the federal capital offers an ideal case of criminal negligence and typical bureaucratic mindset of the city’s fathers.
Most of the roads of Islamabad are turning into large-sized ditches inundated with water. The grassy belts along and in the middle of these roads are turning into small jungles making it a difficult for the commuters as well as pedestrians to pass by calmly.
The story is less of corruption than incompetence and neglect, thus said Ijaz Ahmed a retired director of the Capital Development Authority (CDA) while talking to Pakistan Observer.
As long as CDA was there In Charge of municipal affairs of the city, some God-fearing chief used to visit various sectors of the capital once in a while to oversee their development work and call meetings of the respective directorates to discuss the uplift plan of Islamabad, enhance its beauty and green cover. However, after the powers were relegated from the Authority and MCI came into being, politics and political wrangling became the norm of the day.
Mayor of Islamabad who belongs to the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) though meant well and is a gentleman however he remains as it seems more or less interested in maintaining a numerical majority over the rival Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Councilors thus leaving the issues of city’s uplift to the backburner, said he.
The federal government too, contrary to PTI Chairman and Prime Minister Imran Khan’s belief in transfer of power to the local government kept pushing the Mayor and his team against the wall and launched Special Assistant to PM on CDA Affairs Ali Nawaz Awan who is also Member of the National Assembly against the local representatives.
In this entire tug-of-war between the two, Islamabad stands dismal and crumbling. Aabapra Market that once used to be the busiest and the most popular market of the city is now a haven for drug peddlers, pick pockets and auto thieves. Besides, very few families opt to do shopping there because of the dirt and dust that await them there.
The much-trumpeted 7th Avenue is also bereft of lights and traffic signals. Similarly, in the G-8 sector an incomplete U-Turn near the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) awaits authorities’ early attention. While talking to Pakistan Observer a resident of the Sector G-8/4 Nauman said because of the incomplete U-Turn along the Ibn-e-Sina Road in G-8 sector daily a number of accidents take place. “We have lodged a number of complaints but the municipal department of the MCI has turned a deaf ear to our complaints.”
