| March 13, 2002 | Wednesday | Zilhaj 28, 1422 |
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Wapda’s performance
Shalimar excavations
ONE must welcome a government spokesman’s statement that the military regime was keen to ensure a fair and free general election according to the schedule. Even though there never was any doubt that the election would be held within the period laid down by the Supreme Court, the latest commitment on that score should sound reassuring. However, one part of the spokesman’s statement was a little queer. The government, he said, was “under no pressure” to take sides in the polls. One wonders pressure from whom? Normally, generals do not need pressures to take sides; they have their own patsies to back. The Zia government rigged the 1985 elections, first, by making them party-less, and, then, putting the state machinery to work to ensure “positive results.” The military-backed interim government that supervised the 1988 general election used the electronic media brazenly to keep the PPP out. This performance was repeated during the 1990 election when the ISI floated the IJI by distributing the money obtained from the Mehran Bank among its favourites. This time round, the spokesman’s denial that the government was under no pressure to take sides gives rise to suspicions, unfounded though they may be.
Evidently, a major question occupying every military government’s mind is the kind of political dispensation that would be there after the election. The Musharraf government is no exception. It has undertaken many economic and political reforms and it naturally wishes to see them protected. It is for this reason that President Musharraf has made it known he intends to stay on.
We have had occasions in these columns to point out that the only way Gen. Musharraf can continue as head of state is to get himself elected the constitutional way. For this, he will have to shed his uniform and face the electoral college, which obviously will choose between him and the other candidates which the political parties will field. As for the legislature, one need not have sleepless nights. If the reforms are for the good of the nation, then the people of Pakistan are intelligent enough to see where their interests lie. Those elected to the national and provincial assemblies will obviously represent the people of Pakistan, and will safeguard those reforms.
The results of all the party-based general elections held since 1970 have amply proved that the people are quite capable of showing a surprising degree of maturity. Invariably, they have refused to succumb to religious and ethnic emotions and voted in most cases for mainstream national parties. Religious parties, especially, have been rejected by the voters. They may be great crowd-pullers, and they may have considerable street power and the gift of rabble-rousing, but when it comes to getting votes, the voters have disappointed them by their choice. What the voting pattern in October will be no one can tell. But since the last general election in 1997, extremism and militancy have wounded Pakistan as nothing else has since the 1971 trauma. No one has suffered more from extremism and terrorism of all kinds than the people of Pakistan. They are, thus, likely to keep this factor in view when they turn up at the polling stations in October. Let the military government trust the judgment of the people of Pakistan. A government that comes into being as a result of a manipulated election seldom lasts long enough to be of any service to the people.
WAPDA has greatly improved its overall performance during the current year—so was President Pervez Musharraf told by its chairman at a briefing. The authority is expected to collect Rs 196.2 billion in operational revenues during the current fiscal year as against Rs 174.4 billion last year — an increase of 12.5 per cent. This by any standards would not be a mean achievement. Basically, it is through a reduction in line losses and an expansion of the network that this rise in revenue generation will be achieved. The line losses are expected to decline by two per cent during the calendar year 2002 from 25.6 per cent to 23 per cent. Meanwhile, about two million new consumers have been added to the list of customers during the last three years — from January 1999 to January 2002. In the agriculture sector, 12,500 tubewells have been provided new connections. The chairman claimed that the procedure of sanctioning new connections has been so streamlined that all backlog has almost been cleared.
The performance seems impressive. But it may be pointed out that, by international standards, the line losses, which include distribution and theft, are still very high — more than 10 per cent — and each percentage point costs the utility over one billion rupees it recovers through periodic increases in tariff. It is because of this factor that Pakistan’s electricity rates are the highest in the region. Wapda’s application for a further increase is still pending with the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority, which finds itself unable to accept it until line losses are brought down to a rational level. The chairman did not say how much the periodic increases in the tariff contributed to the incremental collection in revenues. As far as Wapda’s clients are concerned, and they should be the main focus of attention, they would judge its performance by the tariff they are required to pay and by the supply of uninterrupted power, especially during the coming summer.
THE historic discovery of a Mughal-period irrigation system during recent excavations at Lahore’s Shalimar Gardens has brought into focus the rich cultural potential of this important archaeological site. The irrigation system’s main watercourses were linked with a three-tier hydraulic system having covered drains, terracotta pipes and channels made of country brick masonry. The excavations were intended to show that the monument’s lawns were originally sub-divided into four quadrants and that there were no fewer than 16 sub-gardens on the upper terrace. While this could not be substantiated, in the process an important and hitherto unknown facet of this unique cultural treasure came to light. The dramatic revelations about the characteristics of the hydraulic system have added to the wealth of knowledge available on the Shalimar Gardens. Unfortunately, like other icons of our heritage, little has been done for the upkeep and preservation of the monument, which is evident from the disfigurement and dilapidation it has suffered over the years. The way the authorities demolished its main source of water just to widen GT Road speaks volumes for our lack of concern for conserving and respecting our historical treasures.
The demolition of the system, designed by Shah Jehan’s canal engineer, Ali Mardan Khan, in 1645, naturally evoked a worldwide protest and prompted Unesco to declare the Shalimar Gardens an endangered monument. The state of preservation of cultural property has never remained a happy one in Pakistan and the Shalimar is no exception. The inadequacy of resources was a major cause, but among important factors contributing to this state of affairs was the dearth of proper care and lack of awareness about the importance of monuments in the life of a nation. The discovery of the hydraulic system can spark fresh interest in the Shalimar Gardens if only the authorities concerned will follow it up by genuine restoration work to reverse some if not all the damage done to this unique feat of Mughal architecture.