| March 14, 2002 | Thursday | Zilhaj 29, 1422 |
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Tourism & internal scene
Sri Lanka win hands down
IT seems one has to put up with the Chief Executive Secretariat’s rather disconcerting decision to turn down Sindh’s request for supply of water from Tarbela, where water has dropped to dead level. Both Wapda and Irsa, on whose advice the CE Secretariat has based its decision, believe that such a step could lead to serious complications for the reservoir itself. In the year 2000, too, when water was supplied from the dead level at Tarbela to Sindh, the reservoir was said to have faced serious troubles, and the delta moved close to the tunnels, posing a threat to the dam and turbines. The problem — supplying water from the dead level — is outside Irsa’s jurisdiction, since it is responsible for apportioning water shares of the provinces only as long as water remains above the dead level. Below that level, it becomes the responsibility of Wapda, whose main job is to build and maintain dams. Obviously, one cannot brush aside the technical advice of a body which has been given the authority of maintenance over such a vital national project as the Tarbela dam.
While saying this, one has to be mindful of the consequences of the no-supply situation. The non-availability of irrigation water to Sindh during the season is a matter of life and death not only for the province itself but also for the entire country, as the adverse impact of the situation on the province’s agriculture sector is going to cause widespread crop reversals, sending the national economy into a tailspin. Indeed, what the country is facing today amounts to being caught between the devil and the deep sea. One could blame all the past governments and successive Wapda chairmen for not having taken the right decision at the right time to meet the crisis which had been developing since perhaps the mid-1970s. The present government, too, cannot escape its share of the blame, because the first wave of the current cycle of drought hit the country in the very first year of the present government, when it had to supply water to Sindh from the dead level. This was more than a warning. It was, in fact, the first taste of the disaster to come. But the regime failed to prepare contingency plans for the immediate future.
The challenge before the government is two-fold: one, the reservoir should suffer no damage; two, the agriculture sector in Sindh should not be allowed to be crippled. This is a war-like challenge. One hopes that the Wapda chairman, Lt Gen. Zulfiqar Ali Khan, and the military government will find a way out. The cycle of drought does not seem to be ending. The amount of rainfall has been going down consistently over the last three years, whereas the demand for water from domestic, industrial and agriculture users has been on the increase. And even if the rainfall conditions improve, the El Nino and La Nina factors would continue to cause water supply shortages. So, while the government is trying to come up with a balanced answer to meet the immediate crisis, it should prepare a long-term strategy where the consequences of a long drought do not turn out to be devastating for the country’s economy.
PRESIDENT Musharraf’s remarks at the inauguration of a new hotel in Islamabad that his government was offering many incentives to promote tourism, though well-intentioned, might not be enough to convince tourists to flock to Pakistan. That would happen only when the country’s law and order situation and its image problem overseas are sorted out. For many countries, tourism is a major foreign-exchange earner, and that is why countries go out of their way to attract visitors from abroad. Pakistan is fortunate in having some of the finest scenery in the world, with several dozen peaks over 7,000 metres, miles of golden beaches, and some breathtaking archaeological and historical sites. In that sense, we have quite an advantage over other nations competing to attract tourists. However, like in any other business, the success of any campaign to attract tourists depends mainly on how well the product — in this case Pakistan — is marketed. And there lies the problem.
Regrettably, the law and order situation in most parts of the country is far from ideal. The tourism ministry and the PTDC might hold as many seminars as they want, but nothing will change as long as tourists feel insecure. Reports about ethnic strife and sectarian bloodshed are enough to deter a potential tourist. As far as the rural areas go, many parts are considered out of bounds by foreign governments, which caution their citizens against travelling there. No wonder, tourist traffic has turned into a trickle. Given that the market consists of millions of would-be travellers, Pakistan has the potential to earn billions of dollars from tourism. However, no amount of incentives to the travel industry will increase the flow of visitors unless the law and order situation is improved. For better or for worse, the industry’s fortunes are inextricably linked to the government’s resolve to clamp down on all kinds of crime and make the country a safer place for everyone.
WITH the Asian Cricket Championship now in Sri Lanka’s hand, one thing appears obvious: at no stage of the game did Pakistan even remotely threaten to take the fight to the tourists’ camp. The home team was under pressure throughout the proceedings and the visitors were clearly in a commanding position. On the very first day, the game was all but lost. Bowled out for 234, Pakistan allowed Sri Lanka to reach 94 for one at stumps in a flurry of strokes from Jayasurya and Sangakarra, the excellent opening-batsman wicket-keeper, who displayed neat and honest strokes much in the mould of Mark Boucher of South Africa and Adam Gilchrist of Australia, the latter being among the most exciting hitters of the ball in modern cricket. Sangakarra showed that, on his day, he too is nobody’s rabbit. He established his supremacy on the second day by taking his overnight score of 39 to 230 to become only the sixth wicketkeeper in the world to score a double century in test cricket.
On the third day, Mohammad Sami’s hat-trick brought small consolation for Pakistan as Sri Lanka built a first innings lead of 294 runs, and the home side responded with a precarious 193 for five. Shahid Afridi, batting with a measure of responsibility for once, made a thoughtful 70 before lapsing into his old, devil-may-care self and jumped out to off-spinner Muralitheran to be easily stumped. On the fourth day. Pakistan were given some respite by rain, but it wasn’t enough to save them on a bright and sunny final morning. The small lead that Pakistan had built was wiped out in a matter of minutes and Sri Lanka emerged as worthy winners. Inzamamul Haq alone could complain of rotten luck — given out leg-before wicket off a no-ball from paceman Chaminda Vaas. But apart from this and a few other slices of luck, Sri Lanka won hands down. At current form, Pakistan were no match for the visitors, who excelled in every department of the game. With a series against New Zealand coming up, Pakistan have a major rebuilding job on their hands. It would be like building home in a day, but the effort must start in right earnest.