| May 24, 2005 | Tuesday | Rabi-us-Sani 15, 1426 |
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Enlightened moderation?
Post office snags
Indian visa
NIT refunds
Poverty environment
‘Crisis in higher education’
Motorcycle takeaway
Exhibition of paintings
Real estate prices
Profusion of hoardings
Privatization of PTCL
THE Indus River is the only source of water for the people of Sindh. There is little rain and its subsoil water is saltish and toxic. The inhabitants of Sindh have reasons to express grave concern over the scarcity of this precious commodity.
The downstream discharge of the river at Kotri barrage has radically depleted over the past five decades. Between 1947 and 1951, the discharge at this point stood at 138,518 cusecs while the discharge for the last five years is only 6.6 per cent of the former at 9,103 cusecs. To put it simply, there is practically no discharge for about 10 months each year.
A study (Mott. MacDonald Int. Ltd. Environment Assessment, Vol. 10, Right Bank Master Plan) has recognized the need for water downstream Kotri barrage, to meet riverine agriculture, fisheries and domestic requirements.
The people of Sindh are not only worried over the quantity of water they are provided but the quality of water has also deteriorated. The draining of water from the Manchhar lake is a case in point. One thousand cusecs of contaminated water of the lake cannot be diluted by the meagre river flow from upstream.
A recent study by Sindh University based on a five-year water quality monitoring downstream Kotri indicates a steep deterioration in water quality. For instance, on Dec 12, 2004 the total dissolved salts (TDS) upstream Kotri barrage were 240 mg/litre while, just nine kilometres downstream, the same indicator showed a reading of 1,163 mg/litre and at the Sujawal-Thatta bridge the same parameters indicated 2,624 mg/L. WHO sets 500 mg/L as the acceptable level of TDS.
It is imperative, therefore, that the concerns of the people of Sindh be seriously considered and redressed before undertaking the construction of any reservoirs or diversion of upstream water for again agri-hydro electric uses.
DR M. Y. KHUHAWAR
University of Sindh, Jamshoro.
IN recent weeks some advocates of “enlightened moderation” have been claiming that our women must start running publicly and participate in mixed marathons to become enlightened.
Over the decades, in a similar quest, the Pakistani women have been taken from wearing a “burqa” to a “chadar” to a “dupatta”, which in some cases is removed altogether.
Now, the supporters of Kemalism say women must wear short dresses and run in mixed marathons to become enlightened. Soon enough, the latter will probably be told to wear shorts and T- shirts, while participating in public sports, as the western sportswomen do, to reach perfection. Enlightenment is not something like sunlight that the more the skin is exposed to it, the more of it will be absorbed.
The April 16 issue of this newspaper carried a picture titled “Girls’ marathon”, which showed about 15 girl students running in a marathon organized by the district administration at the Government Degree College of Satellite Town in Rawalpindi. Almost without exception, each one of them was clutching at her “dupatta” to keep it in place. It is fine for them to engage in such activities inside the college premises, as was being done at the time, but their discomfiture can easily be imagined if they were to run in a public place.
Real enlightenment pertains to the spirit, not to outward appearance or behaviour and is attained through the cultivation of the heart and mind and by mastering the self. It is only when the spirit has triumphed over the lower self that we become edified. This cannot be had through extremism in either direction or even by education alone, as can be seen from the example of the unlettered Mukhtaran Mai.
A Japanese spiritual master had put it this way:
Before enlightenment
Chopping wood, carrying water;
After enlightenment
Chopping wood, carrying water.
This means that change is internal. After receiving enlightenment, one would still be engaging in one’s usual work — but with a new awareness.
SALIK
Karachi
CONTRARY to all claims by the postal authorities of having provided motorcycles to postmen and of longer delivery hours enforced on postmen, postmen are still seen covering large areas on foot.
The postal authorities are not prepared to provide even bicycles to these poor creatures who sweat and toil in the hot sun to earn their bread. Gulshan-i-Maymar and surrounding goths are one such area, in addition many a new housing colony in Karachi’s Scheme 33.
Nearly 80 per cent of post offices in the city carry the postal obliterator reading “Camp PO No.....” and not of the areas /localities the POs are situated in. By the same token no postal obliterator carries the designated “postal code” which by law they should.
A great majority of staff working at public dealing counters in the city’s POs are not only untrained but cannot properly read the addresses given on articles meant for registration.
No post office has the Post Office Guide for ready reference, although legally copies of these guides should be available at POs for sale to the public.
The weighing scales/balances at the post offices are so defective that the same article weighs differently at different post offices. These are not kept in good repair.
Each post office follows its own laws and own whims. Many a post office does not accept parcels not stitched in cloth and not sealed with molten lac whereas the PO Guide Section II, Clause 95, packing clearly states:
“95. Packing (1). A parcel must be packed and enclosed in a reasonably strong case, wrapper carton, or cover fastened in a manner calculated to preserve the contents from loss or damage in the post, to prevent any tampering therewith and to protect other postal articles from being damaged in any way thereby”. All parcels coming to Karachi from upcountry are mostly and simply wrapped in brown or other paper and tied round with nylon strings. The Karachi POs usually insist on cloth-stitched and lac-sealed parcels.
For weeks on end, the Karachi postal customs at the main GPO never cares to clear out foreign parcels (especially book packets) received at their end, for delivery to local post offices. But when they do so, each parcel is levied with heavy custom duty, as much as Rs100 apiece.
Postal stationery (stamps, etc.) is generally in short supply at most post offices. All they say is that the GPO is neglecting their respective indents.
S. IMADUDDIN
Karachi
I AM a senior citizen aged 76. I had applied for a visitor’s visa for India through TCS, Karachi (airway bill #3330003002, December 11, 2004) and till now there has been no response from the Indian high commission in Islamabad. I have just applied for one city, Mumbai (formerly Bombay), which is my birthplace.
I have tried to phone the high commission several times but they don’t care to even talk to me. TCS Karachi says it can’t contact Islamabad and I have to wait for my visa. The Indian high commission have been announcing off and on that visa to senior citizens will be issued within a week without police reporting and here I am waiting for months to get my visa.
Will the Indian high commission in Islamabad take note of this?
RAZA ALI DOSSA
Karachi
SENIOR citizens were delighted when India, in a rare gesture, announced in March that visitors’ visas would be issued to them at the Attari checkpost. All they needed was a valid passport and a formal visa application, etc.
However, the whole process has been frustrated by some bureaucratic interference. It appears the Pakistani immigration authorities at the Wagah checkpost are not allowing senior citizens to cross over to the Indian side without a valid visa.
This riddle can be solved by the relevant agency of the government of Pakistan. Why deny some small pleasure and sense of ease to senior citizens? Why spoil the spirit of bonhomie now prevailing between the two countries, why thwart the process of facilitating travel and relax visa procedures?
ARSHAD MUBEEN ANWARI
Lahore
THIS IS apropos of the observation made by Dr M. Mehar (May 18) that he surrendered the units for redemption/refund at the head office, that he should have been told by the staff at the time of redemption of units about the rate of repurchase and that the bank pay order should have been signed by the dealing officer receiving the documents.
We are unable to understand the first part of the observation as no sale/repurchase transaction pertaining to NIT units takes place at our head office as it can only be done at the relevant branch. As to the second part, it may be clarified that under the forward day pricing system, which Dr Mehar may also be fully aware of, the rate cannot be intimated at the time of surrender of units as it is announced after the closing of business hours.
We would like to explain that the present system of forward day pricing is in vogue in Pakistan in all the open-ended mutual funds and it is in accordance with the general practice worldwide.
This system was introduced last year and was properly advertised for the information of our investors. It would not be out of place to mention here that the system was necessary to protect the fund from market abuse and speculation.
As for the third part of his observation, in case of surrender of NIT units through NIT branches, payment is made through a crossed cheque instead of a pay order as alleged by Dr Mehar.
Therefore, his point about the signing of the pay order by the staff receiving the documents is not comprehensible.
PRO, NIT
Karachi
THIS refers to a recently-held three-day workshop on “Environmental Orientation and Education” organized in Islamabad by the IUCN, details of which were published in Dawn (April 8). In their presentations, environmental economists stressed that national economic growth was dependent and would continue to depend on the quality of environment.
It is now a globally accepted reality that the interests of the poor and of the environment are mutually interdependent. Poverty and environment are linked in a downward spiral in which poor people, forced to overuse environmental resources for their daily survival, are further impoverished by the degradation of these resources.
The absence of basic necessities like air, water and food constitutes absolute poverty. Considering these necessities today, according to studies, land degradation has now reached frightening levels. Thirty-eight per cent of irrigated land is waterlogged and 14 per cent saline. Water availability had declined from a level of 5,300 cubic metres per capita in 1951 to 1,600 in 1999, to the borderline of 1,200 today, which is merely above the indicator of water scarcity, i.e., 1,000 cubic metres per capita.
In addition, air pollution has now become a serious threat. More than 65 per cent of our population live in rural areas and are heavily dependent on a natural resource-based economy. The poor are most often exposed to environmental shocks such as natural disasters, stresses and environmental-related conflicts and thus become agents of environmental degradation.
A majority of the rural poor have increasingly become clustered on low-potential land. Tree cutting in the NWFP and mangrove cutting in Karachi for domestic fuel usage are a couple of relevant examples.
There is a need to implement sustainable human development programmes in Pakistan and incorporate poverty environment issue in national conservation strategy.
RASHID ASHRAF
Karachi
THIS refers to “Crisis in higher education” by Dr Syed Mehtab Ali Shah (Dawn, May 9). Dr Shah very rightly draws attention to the constantly falling standards of higher education and that they lack recognition internationally.
Fortunately some of world’s prestigious institutions still consider some of our universities as meeting their criteria of “standard” institutions. For example, the University of Alberta, which is one of the best ranking universities of Canada after the University of Toronto and the University of Calgary, still recognizes the University of Karachi as an “institution of standard” and even receives students without testing them for their English language proficiency (TOEFL) or any other exam. They just require a letter from the university registrar verifying that the medium of education is English.
Having said that, one would like to point out that on the website of the University of Karachi www.ku.edu.pk (which is currently not accessible), there are some email addresses for the vice-chancellor’s and the registrar’s offices, but unfortunately either they are not functioning or no one has been assigned to read and reply to emails received on these addresses, mostly by students who are studying or working abroad and need some information and other official details, or have questions and concerns about their credentials and related documents.
I request the vice-chancellor to look into the matter and get it resolved in order to facilitate the old students of of Karachi University who are living outside Pakistan.
ANAS A. KHAN
Edmonton, Canada
SOME time back, the city district government, Karachi, had issued instructions to the traffic police not to take away and impound motorcycles. Those instructions were complied with, giving people much relief.
But the traffic police have once again have started lifting motorcycles from Mumtaz Hasan Road, Wallace Road, I. I. Chundrigar Road and in the City Station jurisdiction.
Motorcycles are roughly loaded and unloaded, damaging indicator lights, mirrors, etc. While removing motorcycles, no indications are left by the traffic police about where the vehicles are being taken. People have to visit different stations to locate their motorcycles.
Before taking such drastic action, proper parking space should be provided. Parking and no-parking signs should be displayed. The traffic police should guide the people about such areas. If, in spite of this, someone parks his motorcycle in a no-parking area, he should be fined on the spot.
Lifting motorcycles is unfair. I don’t know whose instructions are being complied with. This is only a way of generating funds and nothing else.
SOHAIL AHMED SAQIB
Karachi
I MUST commend Ms Salwat Ali on her excellent article, “For the sake of freedom” (Gallery section, May 21). She has highlighted the theme, spirit and the purpose of the exhibition (which continues daily till May 27), while detailing the work of the participating artists.
Through Dawn, I also thank the artists who have donated their paintings free to Amnesty International Pakistan and my special thanks to Mrs Ali Imam for holding the exhibition without any charges or commission at her Indus Gallery.
NAFEES GHAZNAVI
Director, Amnesty International Pakistan
Via email
THIS refers to two articles on the subject (EBR weekly, May 2). The primary reason for high real estate prices is the shortage of developed plots for construction of houses and apartments. If there is a shortage of any commodity, its price will automatically go up according to the law of supply and demand.
In most cases the government (local or provincial) itself is responsible for creating shortage by not developing housing schemes launched more than three decades ago. Mehran Town and Scheme 33 were launched in the mid-70s and are nowhere near completion. Several more schemes were launched subsequently but their fate is the same. A newly-launched housing scheme should be ready for construction of houses within five years.
Private/cooperative societies, leaving aside a few, are also emulating government agencies by diverting funds collected for development to other projects (mostly personal), leaving the allottees high and dry. The registrar of cooperative societies does not take any action against defaulting societies even when complaints are lodged. An excellent example for cooperative societies to follow is that of Gulshani-i-Maymar, which was launched in the 80s and was habitable in less than five years. It is now the largest and most populated society in Scheme 33.
Due to the exploding population and abundant money supply from remittances, bank leans or savings withdrawn from banks, the demand for plots where utilities, roads, water and sewage facilities are available is unprecedented. Instead of levying gain tax, wealth tax or creating impediments in the smooth transfer of property, efforts should be made jointly by the government and the private sector to increase the availability of developed plots. The prices of plots, houses and apartments will automatically come down to reasonable limits.
ASIF JAH
Karachi
THE profusion of hoardings in Karachi is a cause for growing public concern. The governor is reported (May 4) to have issued orders to the effect that the proliferation should be checked.
But the ground reality is in stark contrast to what the public is being told. Everyday new structures are appearing all over the city. Earlier the departing officers had in connivance with a party allowed 60 hoardings of 45x15ft to be fixed on very easy terms. They have left after granting another 117 new permissions.
These are no mere figures. These figures represent an annually recurrent income of millions of rupees.
This situation calls for an investigation by NAB. The public must know what is going on and what steps are being taken to determine responsibility.
Innumerable hoardings exist that are larger than the size allowed.
M. JAMIL
Karachi
THIS refers to the letter “PTCL service” by Mr Muhammad Khatri (May 13), in which he complains about his phone being out of order since September 2004, yet he keeps receiving bills promptly. This is yet another reason why PTCL needs to be privatized.
MOHAMMAD ASIM
Illinois, USA
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