| November 2, 2005 | Wednesday | Ramzan 28, 1426 |
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Earthquake in Babur’s time
Quetta then and now
Buildings on ‘pagri’
Model cities
A personal account of Muzaffarabad
Despotic rulers
Pollution
Saddam’s trial
‘The best and the worst’
Sorry tale of PTCL
Clarification
WHILE Pakistan debates risks from future earthquakes, practical steps are needed to find real time pictures of changes occurring below our land.
Though earthquakes cannot be accurately predicted, the causes of tremors occurring for a few months in Karachi must be determined to set people’s minds at rest.
Theories regarding the earth’s faults and plate movements have been given practical shape through applications like the global seismographic network. The GSN collects real time data through 128 stations across the earth and analyzes sub-surface movements, thus locating earthquake epicentres and areas around it.
If such information had been available on Oct 8, lives in devastated mountainous areas could have been saved.
Reality has to be faced. The truth is that Pakistan does not have practical expertise, data and equipment to analyze what is happening below us, nor do we possess any seismological network.
Equipment can be procured, equivalent to the price of one F-16, for investigation of faults and plate movements. It is, therefore, imperative that:
1. The government requests the US, which controls the global seismographic network, to analyze readings taken in August and September. Movement of the Indian and Eurasian plates should also be plotted.
An organization of experts hired from the West, the US or Japan should be formed who should help train our geologists, engineers and seismologists.
They should identify and install equipment to monitor seismic changes constantly. A joint South Asian seismographic network with India could also be formed to record data over time which would alert us to looming dangers and help analyze future risks.
2. Large cities should be allocated building codes in line with their proximity to faults, and earthquake-resistant buildings must be constructed accordingly. In addition, highrise buildings should be discouraged in coastal cities like Karachi.
3. The Supreme Court would do a great service if it took suo motu notice and punished corrupt officials in building control authorities whenever identified.
The government and opposition in the elected assemblies should take practical steps to prepare for the dangers ahead. The three to four thousand people who form the ruling class whether as ministers or assembly members, nazims or army top brass should ponder over their responsibilities and think what would be the outcome if we are not prepared and an earthquake strikes a major city.
AZIZ SUHARWARDY
Karachi
THE founder of the Mughal dynasty, Babur, mentions an earthquake in Kabul and its surrounding region among the events of the year AH 911 (June 4, 1505-May 23, 1506). He had set out to capture Kandahar.
“We had set out and were stopped in Qush Nawar when I fell ill with a really strange malady. No matter how often they woke me, I would immediately fall back asleep. After four or five days I was much better. Just then there occurred such an earthquake that most of the ramparts of forts and walls of gardens collapsed, leaving houses in towns and villages in rubble. Many died trapped beneath falling houses and walls. All the residences in the village of Paghman collapsed. Seventy or 80 strong villagers died when a wall fell. Between Laghman and Begtut, a section of ground a good stone’s throw wide slid down the distance of an arrow shot and caused springs to open up. From Istarghij to Maydan, a span of approximately six or seven leagues (Turkish league was measured in time and ranges from four to eight miles, the lower figure being the more normal equivalent), the earth was so split open that in some places it rose up an elephant’s height, and in others it sank as deep.
“At some places a person could enter the cracks, dust rose from the summits of all the mountains. Nurullah Tamburachi was playing the ‘saz’ for me and had another beside him. He had just picked them up when he was so shaken that they crashed together. Jahangir Mirza (younger brother) was in the ‘ayvan’ (portico) of an upper apartment in one of Ulugh Beg Mirza’s buildings in Teba. When the earthquake struck, he got out without injury, but one of his comrades was in the upper apartment and the roof fell on him.
“It was through God’s protection that he suffered no injury. Most of the houses in Teba were flattened. The earth shook 33 times that day. For a month at least the earth shook once a day. The ‘begs’ and soldiers were ordered to repair the cracks and breaches in the towers and ramparts. In 20 days to a month the cracks and breaks in the fortress were fixed thanks to their energetic action.
“The former start we had made for Kandahar was delayed by my illness and the earthquake.” (Baburnama: Memoirs of Babur, Prince and Emperor”, translated, edited and annotated by Wheeler M. Thakston, OUP, New York and Oxford.)
I wonder if it is possible to gauge the magnitude of the earthquake from Babur’s report, and if his illness was a precursor (ref: “Of seismic precursors” by Dr Arun Bapat (Dawn Sci-Tech World, Oct 22).
NARGIS KHANUM
Karachi
IN THE article “Quake devastation: then and now”, (Oct. 27), Qazi Faez Isa has very correctly pointed out that the death toll of the Oct. 8 earthquake is a consequence of substandard buildings that did not incorporate earthquake resistant features.
He has aptly quoted from the book ‘Thirty Seconds At Quetta’ by Robert Jackson. Although based on the 1935 quake which destroyed Quetta, the book is still relevant today and the lessons learnt could help in the relief and reconstruction work that will now be done.
Those in the newly-formed ERRA would do well to get a copy of this book and read it.
Is it too much to hope that Quetta’s municipal corporation will now wake up after the earthquake of October 8? Indeed even the elementary Quetta Building Code of 1937 has not been followed in many cases.
Greed, corruption and overpopulation have resulted in making Quetta a hazardous place to live. In the event of a severe earthquake a huge number of casualties can be expected.
The city officials have a monumental task before them, to not only to enforce the Quetta Building Code of 1937 for new construction but also to inspect all other buildings to check whether they are earthquake-resistant as required by the code and as directed by the Balochistan High Court.
Where necessary, action to force owners of such buildings to put right the shortcomings will also need to be taken.
PERVEZ RANA
Quetta
ACCORDING to seismic experts/geologists, Pakistan, including Karachi, is in a “tremor prone zone”. Moreover, Karachiites have recently experienced jolts. A survey conducted by the Karachi Building Control Authority shows that more than 1,000 buildings in the city are in a dilapidated condition and cannot resist a big earthquake. The occupants are reluctant to vacate their dangerous premises.
In fact, these buildings are a source of revenue, and are “goodwill/pagri-based”. The owners rent out flats, shops, offices and take a substantial amount but at nominal rent from the ignorant or needy people. When the value of their property picks up, they (owners) try to get back their property on one pretext or the other. Transactions of millions of rupees take place daily without the involvement of the government.
The goodwill-based tenants do not vacate their premises on the apprehension that they will not get back their premises as they {occupants} have no legal rights.
The bureaucracy concerned should consider legalizing the goodwill/’pagri’ system and the government should charge 10 per cent of the whole transaction. Once goodwill-based tenants are legalized, they will vacate their premises.
The owners can then demolish old structures and build new ones in their place to remain reasonably safe from natural disasters.
DR S. MASOOD-UL-HASSAN
Karachi
THE president and the prime minister have announced that model cities, towns and villages will be constructed at safer places, possibly near the destroyed cities, towns and villages where people displaced by the Oct 8 earthquake will be settled. Mr Kunwar Idrees in his column (Oct 23) has analyzed Pakistan’s experience with model cities, towns and villages planned and built in the past to house persons displaced by floods or other calamities.
The experiments failed, as shown by Mr Idrees. Hence it is proposed that the displaced persons may be settled in houses at the site of or near their old homes. Human beings like to live at places where they are born and brought up.
In the present case many of the displaced persons must have small land holdings and other sources of living like pastures near their destroyed houses, and they would prefer to live in their old places, and preferably their own old reconstructed homes.
LATIF QURESHI
Lahore
A GROUP of 12 people went to Islamabad to volunteer in the relief effort. The date was Oct 21.
We ended up at the headquarters of an NGO, which we had heard was the most organized of all the NGOs and which was doing the best work. When we got to their office, it was chaos, no one was in charge and there was total utter lack of communication.
We did not see any relief efforts, any camps set up by NGOs, the government or the army till we reached the outskirts of Muzaffarabad. We drove around asking everyone where we should go to help out, especially keeping in mind that we had two doctors with us and lots of medicines.
Finally we arrived at Neelum ground, which was being used as a helipad base by the army to carry out the relief effort. There were wounded everywhere, helicopters landing and taking off every few minutes and people running all over the place. Some people were just sitting around watching the helicopters and doing nothing more.
We started off by some of us putting up a medical tent, the others helping out in the operating theatre, while others managed the patients in pre-op (operation) and post-op. We saw up close limbs being amputated, children in shock, and grown men and women crying for shelter and food. It was terrible.
From what I saw, I have come to the following conclusions. The government effort is wanting. One government official visited the relief camps in Muzaffarabad on Sunday morning and was distributing 1,000-rupee notes at his own discretion. He must have distributed just about a hundred. We also saw several helicopters being used to ferry government officials to Islamabad.
People told us that almost the entire government of Azad Kashmir had left the moment it was possible for them to get out of Muzaffarabad. On Monday morning, the heli-base was brimming with activity. We asked around and were told that Mr Shaukat Aziz was soon expected.
Foreigners, local journalists, and people with influence were allowed to enter Neelum ground but the survivors who most needed help were stopped by MPs posted at the gates. This scene was made even crueller by the fact that the victims could see parts of the ground from outside, and on it heaps of relief goods (including tents and warm clothes) were clearly visible to them. I stopped a colonel whom I had got to know in the previous 24 hours and asked him why these people were not being helped. His reply was and I quote ‘If we start giving tents and other relief to these people we would not have any left for the remote areas where they are needed most.’
We saw approximately 8-10 helicopters working over the two-day period that we were in Muzaffarabad. These helicopters were often being used to ferry journalists and television crews back and forth so that the world could see what the army wanted them to see and the government could get the aid that it needed. I am not saying that those helicopters were not bringing in victims, they were. Maybe four sorties out of 10 were for this purpose but no more.
Political parties are doing all they can to ensure that they have as many sympathy votes as they can get. We need tents that are of lightweight material, weather-proof, and can fit in a big shopping bag so that they can be dropped in the remotest areas.
I met people whose villages were between five and 15 kilometres from Muzaffarabad who had not received any help of any sort. Their children were dying of hunger and the cold. Their homes had been destroyed and now they were being turned back from Muzaffarabad with no help, just empty promises.
One man told us that the population of his village which was around 15,000 had been reduced to a couple of thousand and these too were dying because of no relief, no shelter and no food.
What are needed now are medical specialists, especially orthopaedic surgeons, neurosurgeons (because so many had head injuries), paediatricians and psychiatrists. If we don’t help the people who are dying right now, there won’t be any need for reconstruction.
Volunteers are still needed. It doesn’t matter how busy you are or how spoilt you are. These people need you, and even if you can take out one weekend of your life then please go up there. Treat it as a road trip, a camping trip or whatever else that you fancy but go there. Those people need to see that we care. Even if you go there and just sit with a few families and talk to them for a couple of hours, that will at least show them that we care for them.
HASSAN SHAREEF
Karachi
THE LETTER by Syed Iqbal Ahmad suggests that “catastrophes come as a divine warning to intolerant, autocratic, despotic and cruel rulers who bring unbearable sufferings for the poor masses”.
What I would like to say is that God appoints rulers from the “poor masses” they rule and they will be as bad as the society they come from. Why do people have this impression that being “poor” exonerates the public from being responsible and accountable for its own “intolerant, autocratic, despotic and cruel” existence?
You cannot blame the rulers for these natural disasters; it is the people who live here and who are complacent and allow bad rulers to gain power. Who should also be blamed.
With reference to another letter, by Haris Iqbal (Oct. 27), one would be able to comprehend why this society is subjected to such rulers. In fact, one way to look at it would be to think that corrupt and despotic rulers are God’s punishment upon us.
JAWAD NAWAZ KHAN
Lahore
THIS letter concerns avoidable atmospheric pollution caused by traders in Street No. 4, off 14th Street, Phase V , DHA, Karachi, who dump their packing materials like waste-paper, grass, etc., on an empty plot adjacent to 20C, 14th Street, and set fire to the scrap heap. The smoke emitted is so nauseating that even those in sound health feel very disturbed.
Sometimes the flames are so high and widely spread that fire extinguishers have to be summoned in order to save adjoining buildings from catching fire.
The extinguishing of the fire generates smoke and ashes that frequently get deposited on balconies and poison the lives of those suffering from sinus and other allergic problems.
On a previous similar complaint published in these columns, the DHA had gone to the extent of building a horizontal wall across the plot to prevent entry which the traders dismantled and continued to pollute. Why the traders do not deliver their packing materials to the DHA van calling almost every day is not understood.
AKBAR KHAN
Karachi
THIS is with reference to the news that the former president of Iraq, Saddam Hussein, will face a public trial that will be open to the media. This was announced by Iraq’s chief judge in the case, Raed al-Juhi. He said that the trial would be broadcast live on television.
In this way, the former president’s case will be dealt with under the basic principle of law, i.e., “Audi Alterm Paterm”, which says: “Nobody can be hurt without being heard”. Moreover, another basic principle of fundamental law is that justice should not only be done, but also be seen to be done.
I remember the words of former prime minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, who wrote in his last book If I am Assassinated from his death cell: “I need a fair trial at the bar of the public and I want justice in an open court”.
He also demanded that his murder trial be shown on the media. But the leader was deprived of his legitimate constitutional right of an open trial in a false and fabricated murder case.
The Pakistani nation and Pakistan still remember the services and charisma of the leader who gave his life but did not compromise on his principles.
QAZI KASHIF NAEEM
Hyderabad
THIS is with reference to Ayaz Amir’s Islamabad Diary of Oct. 28. He singles out two organizations for special praise: the Jamaatud Dawah and the MQM.
These two organizations had placed themselves strategically in front of the press club building in Muzaffarabad so that correspondents would not have to travel far and wide to gather information regarding their relief work.
The earthquake survivors will need provisions and shelter on a long-term basis, which could run into months if not years.
I wonder how either of these two organizations plan to meet the long-term needs of the affectees.
If any one can provide relief on a long-term basis to all the affectees it is the government. Mr Amir should also meet the head of the federal relief commission, Maj-Gen. Farooq Ahmed Khan, in order to give a balanced picture to readers.
SARDAR AHMED SHAH JAN
Peshawar
THIS refers to the letter “Sorry tale of PTCL” (Oct 26) The frustrated PTCL employee is correct. Many officers, especially those with good technical degrees and skills, have left PTCL and many are actively searching for jobs where they will be treated with some respect instead of being ridiculed by HR higher-ups.
The HR department claims to draw its support from higher-ups in the ministry of telecommunications. They spend their time in making policies for victimization, discrimination and harassment of those who ran PTCL well for years and years.
Will those at the helm of affairs wake up?
AN EMPLOYEE
Islamabad
THIS is with reference to the letter by a subscriber (Oct 28). The last complaint was registered on Oct 23. The customer was not getting a dial tone due to the malfunctioning of the instrument and he was informed accordingly. On receipt of a complaint again on Oct 28 through the media the officer concerned of the area visited the customer premises and apprised the customer about the problem.
Another telephone (498-2158) is also working at the same premises satisfactorily.
ATHER JAVED SUFI
Media Coordinator,
PTCL Headquarters,
Karachi
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