KARACHI: A news item earlier this month said that agreement had been signed between the Karachi city district government and local consultants for the preparation of a master plan 2020. Tasks which would be undertaken in the plan include population profile, housing, transportation, water supply, sewerage, old city areas’ revitalization, recreational facilities, industrial development, institutional set-up, etc.

This is a good opportunity for the city government to develop realistic goals for the development of the city over the next 15 years. Once developed, the plan will guide the city’s development and future growth keeping in view present and future requirements.

The last master plan (Karachi Development Plan 2000), which was developed in June 1991, dealt with urban development, land- use planning, water supply, sewerage, solid waste management, telecommunications, transport, recreational facilities and institutional framework. As stated in the document, the plan was an output of a ‘dynamic’ planning process and, emphasis was placed on developing such a process. While the plan was properly developed, the discussion on the environment sector was very brief.

Master plan 2020 appears to be innovative in the sense that two important aspects have been included in it. One is the environmental impact assessment (EIA) of projects, and the other is the reuse of treated wastewater for irrigation. The practice of assessing environment impacts of Karachi’s projects is non- existent at present. A number of mega projects are under execution, but none of them has been subjected to the environmental impact assessment process. As a result, there is no way one can assess the impact of a project and have a mitigation plan (environmental management plan) in place to minimize adverse environmental impacts and enhance the positive.

The uncontrolled use of wastewater for irrigation has created wide-spread problems. Use of raw wastewater for irrigating vegetables and crops is common. Potential health risks exist if vegetables and crops irrigated with untreated waste water are consumed uncooked, as sufficient numbers of pathogens survive in soils and on crops. Likewise, those engaged in using wastewater for green spaces, industrial purposes, recreational use and aquaculture can be exposed to waste water aerosols or droplets, either through inhalation or through skin cuts. Appropriate wastewater treatment, crop restriction, methodology of application of wastewater, exposure and hygiene will allow safe use of wastewater for irrigation. Certain constituents in wastewater can affect the crop itself if they are present in quantities higher than the permissible limits. As such, treated wastewater needs to meet some specified standards before it is used for irrigation and the master plan must set standards for wastewater used for irrigation.

From newspaper reports it appears that the master plan has missed out, perhaps inadvertently, some aspects that have relatively a high degree of relevancy to Karachi city’s development, especially during the next 15 years. These are sustainable developments, water conservation, development of an emergency response mechanism, and control of urban air pollution.

The Brundtland Report, 1987, defines sustainable development as “a development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.” The International Organization for Standards (ISO) defines sustainability as “the maintenance of ecosystem components and functions for future generation.” Sustainable development received a major boost during the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio, where Agenda 21 formed the international blueprint for sustainable development.

In Karachi, one finds profuse use of energy, raw material consumption, greenhouse gas emissions, high waste production, unsustainable consumption and producing patterns, and non- conservation of natural resources. Since poverty is central to unsustainable practices, the priority should include poverty eradication and creation of human security.

Development of new sources of water supply would not be meaningful unless water conservation is strictly resorted to. Drinking-water is wasted to a very large extent. People wash their cars and floors with hose pipes directly connected to a pump. It is estimated that if strict water conservation is adopted in Karachi, the gap between water supply and water demand will be zero. To start with, water supply should be metered, just like electricity and gas. Host of suggestions can be offered for conserving drinking-water.

At present, there is no proper emergency response mechanism if a large-scale incident occurs. The disasters can include industrial accidents, oil spills (both, on Karachi streets and on the sea), radiation, and transport-related accidents involving chemicals. Karachi has over 5,000 industries, ranging in size from major industries (power plants, nuclear plants, chemical complexes, refineries, textiles) to medium-sized industries.

Major conglomerations of industries with a potential chance of an accident present a significant level of risk.

Typically, the level of environmental awareness in industries (barring multi-national companies) for the prevention of industrial accidents is low. This, coupled with the careless attitude towards workers in the industries, the risk of industrial accidents increases to a level where an adequate emergency response system is urgently warranted.

Of all the aspects of environmental pollution, air pollution in Karachi is most significant. Increasing economic drives and pressures have led to an increasing demand for energy and mobility, causing increased pollutant emissions. Poor people are more susceptible to the effects of air pollution, as they have to spend a longer time in polluted areas and have low resistance due to lack of proper nutrition. Almost all Karachi’s air is well beyond the permissible limits imposed by the World Health Organization and the US Environmental Protection Agency.

Providing clean air in Karachi would require an integrated and systems-based approach to address components like air quality goals, vehicle emissions standards, fuel standards, emissions control from stationary and area sources and rational traffic management. The city government is well-placed to control urban air pollution in Karachi because it has greater ability to create public awareness, can initiate long-terms solutions, control the transportation system and can tap the private sector’s role in air quality management. Nearly four years ago, the Asian Development Bank, the World Bank, US-Asia Environmental Partnership and other organizations established the Clean Air Initiative for Asian Cities (CAI-Asia) programme. Karachi city is also included in the programme. The city government can request mobilizing resources for improved air quality management in Karachi.

THE test-firing of the cruise missile Babur by Pakistan within less than a week of the India-Pakistan agreement on the pre-notification of missile tests by both parties has been noted with interest. More intriguing have been India’s reservations, reluctance or outright refusal to restrict the pre-notification accord to ballistic missiles, despite Pakistan’s advice. Pakistan’s field test of the Babur may well be viewed more as a technology demonstration than an offensive challenge.

India’s euphoria on the conclusion of its strategic framework agreement with the US seems somewhat premature and misplaced. It may well cost India at least a fractional loss of its strategic sovereignty besides damaging its status as the leader of the non-aligned movement. India’s pristine Nehruvian image as the Asian colossus untarnished by the global militaristic designs of the West is all but shattered.

Pakistan for its part should give a moderate response to India’s ‘belligerence’ and reiterate its resolve to maintain the ‘balance of power’. Minimum credible deterrence, conventional and nuclear, will be the main prop of its strategic structure. Thus, security concerns on both sides of the divide have lent an intriguing dimension to the budding India-Pakistan peace process. What is reassuring, however, is that the process has stayed its course despite the bumps on the way.

India’s reaction to Pakistan’s cruise missile launch was generally moderate and there was hardly any evidence of a tit-for-tat official riposte or a sustained media offensive. However, the problem is that appearances alone will not cut the Gordian knot without recourse to the blade of hard realities. The grim reality, at the core, arises from the persistent mistrust in each other’s professed friendly sentiment.

India’s burgeoning ambition and thrust to acquire a major power status and Pakistan’s refusal to play second fiddle in the subcontinental menage remain an enduring source of friction. Someone as mild-mannered and soft-spoken as Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, carried away by the ceremonial razzmatazz accompanying his July Washington visit, could not wait to threaten Pakistan with “suspending” the peace talks.

It’s one thing to ask Pakistan to “curb militant infiltration”, but quite another to threaten to overturn the entire peace process at whim. As the “prime minister of a democracy”, he said, “he could not move ahead of Indian public opinion and push forward the process of normalization with Pakistan.”

With so slender a thread supporting the budding peace process under way after years of tension, the chances of a sudden collapse will continue to haunt the political scene. The Pakistani reaction has been more in the nature of a protest than a counter-threat or challenge. Pakistan can hardly match India materially, tool-for-tool, and knows the futility of the exercise. In practical terms, it can only talk of extreme measures should it ever be driven to the wall.

At the recent 92nd corps commanders conference, the prevailing security scenario, internal as well as external, came under detailed review. The wide range of subjects discussed included India’s US-aided force modernization with a cutting offensive edge; war on terror; the crackdown on extremists; and Iran’s nuclear programme.

The president called “minimum (conventional/nuclear) deterrence” the “cornerstone” of national strategy. Credible minimum deterrence sounds more like a doctrine than something signifying quantifiable force levels and actual deployment of forces. It would be both a mix of conventional/ nuclear wherewithal and the operational readiness required to activate it in a dire situation. What matters, however, relates predominantly to the safe custody and the state of readiness of these weapons rather than their actual use.

Now a few words about the implications of the India-US framework agreement and its impact on Pakistan. Official reaction to the development, while emphatic, betrayed nothing of the raw temper or brashness of the past. It was in the nature of a measured protest without questioning its rationale as an arrangement between two sovereign countries.

At the expert level, however, an oped piece came from former COAS General Mirza Aslam Beg. As Gen Beg sees it, the Indo-US defence pact represents a “significant geopolitical shift”. Mark the use of the word ‘pact’, which it is not till the framework arrangement gets Congressional approval. According to him, the US will also be “outsourcing its imperial reach” through India as a “competent” military power to “respond rapidly” to a regional crisis.

Such a postulate, though arguable, would mean little in practical terms after Iraq and Afghanistan where the war was not staged through India. America’s stupendous missile-air power can hit targets as far away as Kenya, Kosovo and Somalia from floating naval platforms. The American military’s global “outreach” is a fact of life with or without India.

As for the general’s advice to Pakistan regarding a paradigm shift from an exaggerated Washington-centric policy to a deeper understanding with China, the question is — would such a shift also be in the supreme national interest of China, the world’s second largest military power?

— The writer is a retired brigadier of the Pakistan Army.

HYDERABAD: Hyderabad was an industrial-cum-agricultural district until its recent division. Now it is a city district qualifying for a city district government. Its four rural talukas, Tando Mohammad Khan, Matiari and Tando Allahyar are now separate districts, the creation of which has been questioned by opposition and nationalist parties.

One NA and six PA seats with 52 Union Councils form part of the four talukas of City, Latifabad, Hyderabad (rural) and Qasimabad. The 1998 census puts population of the undivided district, spread over 5159 square kilometres, at 2,891,488 including and 1380463 females. A district government document puts the population of the new district at 1,496,392 - 301526 rural and 1194866 urban, now comprising an area 993 square kilometres.

Urdu-speaking people dominate the City and Latifabad talukas while, the Qasimabad and Hyderabad (rural) talukas are dominated by Sindhi-speaking people. Pockets like American Quarters, Hali Road and Hala Naka have the influence also of Pushto-and Punjabi-speaking communities.

The city has been facing turbulent times since the 80s, getting attention of national and international media on account of the so-called Hyderabad carnage (September 30, 1988) and May 1990 Pucca Qilla operation. Ethnic and linguistic riots spoiled the socio-economic fibre of the city which witnessed regular curfews, followed by wheeljam strikes.

In the 52 Union Councils there are 676 seats in the six categories-208 of Muslim general male; 104 of Muslim general female, 104 each of peasant/worker male & female, 52 of minority and 104 nazim/naib nazim. According to election commission figures, the population of Hyderabad district is 1372469.

The basic issues confronting the city are encroachment on roads and bazaars, poor civic infrastructure and a dysfunctional water supply system, which claimed 42 precious lives due to supply of contaminated water from the filter plant of the Water and Sanitation Agency (WASA) last year. Erratic power supply is another major problem. People have been agitating and expressing concern over lack of sewerage and drainage facilities while the sewage of the city is being discharged into the Phulelli canal which supplies water to rural areas.

Five development packages, including one mega presidential package of Rs10.5 billion, await execution. The other four are: Rs500 million governor’s package, Rs1 billion’s Hyderabad special projects and Rs1 billion announced by Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz on July 17 at public meeting organized by the MQM.

Since 1987, the city has been a bastion of power of the MQM which grabbed NA and PA seats till 1997 (except in 1993 when it boycotted NA elections). After it stayed away from the 2001 LB elections, leaving field wide open for its opponents, the party lost one NA and the PA seats to the MMA in Phulleli/Paretabad areas.

MQM’s poll boycott helped the JUP-backed Al-Khadim group to win UC-6, UC-10, UC-12, UC-13, UC-18 and UC-20 while the ADP won UC-1, UC-4, UC-16 in City taluka. In Latifabad, the ADP grabbed UC-1 and UC-17 whereas JI’s Al-Khidmat group won UC-8 city, UC13 and UC-14 of Latifabad taluka.

A tough electoral contest is expected between candidates of the MQM-backed Haq Parast Group and those of MMA’s Ittehad-i-Millat Group (IMG) as well as PPP’s Awam Dost Panel (ADP). Simply put, it is HPG v/s the rest, because the ADP and IMG have fielded joint candidates against the MQM. Varying factor of communities of Ansaris, Arains, Qureshis, Kazis play a crucial role in different UCs of city taluka.

In Hyderabad (rural) taluka, ADP clinched six out of 11 Union Councils and in Qasimabad UC-1 and 4 in the last LB polls. Backed by former district nazim Dr Makhdoom Rafik Zaman and former taluka Qasimabad nazim, Noor Mohammad Shoro, who met Sindh CM for seat adjustments and formed the Awami Ittehad group in the taluka.