God has been kind in giving you another opportunity to be the Chief Executive of the province of Sindh a great honor. Sindh is the richest province as compared to other provinces therefore during this tenure set good example of good governance and convert province into a an attractive place and give modern look specially to Karachi. You are not new in politics and belong to a political family of Sindh. Your late father has also served as Chief Minister of Sindh and served them well under the dynamic leadership of Shaheed Benazir Bhutto.
After partition I landed in a small town of District Sanghar called Shahdadpur . The love, affection and hospitality I received cannot be expressed in words. Even today that culture can be seen at most of the places but the things have changed. Your party is in power for last 10 years and another term of 5 years has already started. Before coming to my point, I would like to tell you something about interior Sind and then it will not be difficult to derive the point home and draw your attention towards city of lights Karachi, the economic hub of Pakistan as to how things can be improved.
Since you were born in 1962 and therefore you may not be aware about the best part of governance in Sind. Since I am an eye witness therefore would like you to look through that angle expressed mainly to inform you that how with meager resources and improper facilities gadgets and tools the cities of interior Sindh gave finest looks as for as cleanliness and traffic discipline was concerned. Karachi was no different than interior Sind the clean roads and good traffic discipline with less number of police seen now appears to be a distant dream. The purpose of writing this letter is mainly to suggest some measure that may help in bringing much awaited and much desired improvement in Sind.
We all understand that it is always collective effort and responsibility of each and every citizen to ensure the law of the land is not violated, and no one considers himself above the law and everyone has to contribute according to his capacity. Let us see the old days culture. Early in the morning much before sunrise all the roads were cleaned by sweepers of Municipalities on daily basis except Sundays. After the sweep was complete another party of sanitary workers would come and spray water in the drainage line , and the third party would spread white lime to kill mosquitoes and flies. This used to be a regular feature and followed by inspection by the sanitary inspector. This system was followed throughout Sind and monitored on regular basis. It is very unfortunate that with the passage of time and with modern gadgetry and facilities the province gives shabby look specially our great city of Karachi. Victoria Road, Elphinston street were the real mirror of Karachi, presented very fine look. One could see the foreigners moving freely on these streets. How it looks now is a history by itself
As compared to past now if you compare it with the old standards it looks we have entered in some jungle where there is no law, everybody is at his own, he may do anything sitting anywhere, and have no fear at all. Karachi is now city of encroachers; go in any street, in any direction, on any road they are occupied by vendors of all sorts making it most difficult to walk on the footpaths, because footpaths are flooded with stalls.
Even the roads are occupied to the extent that one finds it difficult to find a place where an individual can move freely in any market, and bazaar. As if this was not enough, the car show rooms have encroached on footpaths and considerable portion of the road has also been encroached to display cars meant for sale. Although one way traffic sign is displayed, the traffic policeman is also standing but is unable to control and get hold of the culprit except for those places which are considered unsafe by the security staff.
Surprisingly where there is NO PARKING Board displayed you find maximum cars are parked right under that board under the nose of traffic police. 99.9 percent motor bikes are unfit because they are without side mirrors. Motor cyclists are the most dangerous for normal traffic as most of them move in the fast lane, middle, left right, teenagers without license, without helmets and at times more than 2 are seated thus posing great threat of life to other commuters. This also requires streamlining.
Wagoners, buses, taxis stop at the place of their own choice without observing rules. There are no public toilets as a result you find people sitting on the corner of the roads without any fear of law. Breaking of signal is very common specially when it is happening in front of traffic police. You have to start operation clean up cities remove all these encroachments. Give them 15 days time and after that no mercy whatsoever. Start from one end of Karachi and end up at Sind Punjab border.
Lastly there is hue and cry on water shortage in Karachi, it is not true. It is the theft of water and Tanker Mafia that is responsible. Close down all hydrants for 15 days and if you find any tanker with water, the driver should be put behind the bars and confiscate the vehicle. Only drastic measures shall yield results, half heated efforts always prove counterproductive. So please make a start
The writer is a freelance journalist and defence Analyst.