KARACHI: It’s been ten days since the city nazim arbitrarily promised the completion of road-work in certain localities within 15 days. But as the traffic jams continue — each one worse than the last — it is clear that the claim/order was too tall to be realistic in the first place.
Amid these persistent traffic jams and chaos due to the ‘excavated’ roads at crucial junctions traversed by almost 10 million citizens daily, another two roads in the area — one near Nagan Chowrangi and a portion of Rashid Minhas — were also randomly dug up last week, ensuing in the particular nightmarish jam over the weekend when many were stranded for hours and could not keep crucial appointments or get to funerals and weddings.
The following day, the city nazim had masterfully ‘ordered’ the work’s completion of the newly dug up roads within the next 15 days. Which means that either it is possible for all roads to be completed in such short duration (which is highly improbable since the claims are that the new roads are to be ‘long life’ roads) or that the mayor has a magic wand which allows him to turn wishes into horses IF he so desires! Ten days on, and we know that neither is true.
An excursion to the area around and beyond Nagan Chowrangi explains the obvious about the traffic jams that have been a permanent feature for months and are growing steadily worse. There are large pockets of area resembling Berlin after World War II. But while no Hitler perpetrated the war here, the city administration has tried to match his zealous spirit by bulldozing nearly three fourths of the city at one go.
It’s been two months since the 5km long stretch on Shahrah-i-Pakistan was dug. Residents and other stakeholders around the area have no clue as to the reasons which prompted the city government to get the road overhauled. It was in a fine shape, and with the Lyari Expressway starting operations in the near future, the traffic on this stretch would have become considerably reduced. Similarly, the two roads dug last week, were also in reasonable shape with no immediate overhauling essential, especially at a time when work in progress in the surrounding areas was already agitating the wretched residents.
What is more perplexing is that since the 5km stretch from the Nazimabad petrol pump roundabout through Liaquatabad No 10, going up till Gharibabad has also been totally hollowed out for the purpose of constructing underpasses, what purpose was being served in adding to commuter congestion by digging up a perfectly fine road in the same area at the same time? And these roads are the three main exit and entry points for the area residents to go towards the city for their livelihood.
The frenetic braking, building, and rebuilding of half the city is assuming frightening consequences and the rationale is bewildering — or is it? And while it takes the contractors just two days flat to dig up the strongest roads (as the money is released soon after) their restructuring takes eons. Incidentally two of these numerous dug up roads were also the long life roads — which have a healthy life span of 25-30 years — and were built just a couple of years ago.
The city nazim’s logic behind this ‘mass vandalizing’ of the existing road network is supported by the argument that it is better that the people face the problems at one go for a shorter duration rather than one by one for an extended period which would have been the case if work had not been done simultaneously. Sure, one might as well die quickly rather than go through slow torture!
But did the thought of not inconveniencing the citizens to this degree at all ever cross the authorities’ minds? It could have been possible, if the work had been carried out in phases with proper alternate routes chalk-marked beforehand for the massive flow of vehicles in the area which houses the majority of the city’s population. But then governments in our city have a fragile life span, and since the benefits of the projects would not have been ensured for the present ‘faction’ in a phased-out revamp plan, it was perhaps thought prudent by the city’s governing leaders to ‘do it all together’ and let the people sink or swim!
In places where the only objective is to widen the road, digging up the intact portion of the rest of the road is another unnecessary procedure being applied. Some years ago a decision was made, ordering contractors to carry out carpeting of potholed roads only at night time so that the commuters would not be troubled. In the present overhauling taking place, if only the side tracks which are being used for widening the roads were dug, and carpeting done during the night, these jams could have been avoided.
But the people’s comfort is never primary agenda in our authoritative set-up. And now, within a 10km radius around Nagan Chowrangi, all main arteries lie ‘unearthed’ and traffic here continues to stand still during peak hours almost tripling the commuting time. And despite masterful claims of 15-day completions it can hardly be hoped that the situation will actually change that fast.
There are more mystifying facts which may be mentioned here regarding the excavated/construction projects which totally defy reason. The three underpasses, for which the road from Nazimabad petrol pump intersection to Gharibabad has been dug up, will be built on one straight stretch of four kilometers. This means that cars will be going up and down and in and out of three different underpasses, three times for a straight stretch of less than ten-minute distance. Was a ‘joy ride’ for the poor citizens the basic idea behind this ludicrous underpass designing or were three separate contracts so lucratively attractive that the authorities blatantly defied logic?
With accountability at an all time low in this nation and particularly in Karachi, the validity of almost all the projects under way is in question. Instead of putting the city in turmoil and investing billions into the underpass projects, reviving the Karachi Circular Railway (by making the existing track operational) and mass transit system would have been a much better option. It would have addressed the dangers posed by the increasing buses and their Mafiosi organisation and it would have eased the traffic on the roads considerably besides offering the public a cleaner transport option and a less polluted environment.
Things as they stand now are pretty dismal. We have a situation where traffic jams are taking people’s lives as well as an environment saturated with dirt and rubble. If one road is made, its side lane remains dug up with debris strewn all over. Besides Nazimabad, North Nazimabad and Federal B. Area, many areas of the PECHS, Gulshan-i-Iqbal and Clifton paint the same picture. Will citizens’ issues ever take precedence over personal agendas in our country?
A resident of Defence who actively involves himself in keeping his residential area clean by badgering the cantonment and gets his neighbourhood’s sidewalk paved by the DHA if needed, has a matter of fact comment to make. “The people get the governance they deserve. If the stakeholders of the area don’t rise and make a noise and complain to the town nazims or the cantonments responsible, no authority will ever bother on its own behalf to rectify the problems. But the people here have accepted all kinds of mismanagement and shoddy treatment, so why blame anybody else?”
KARACHI: It’s been ten days since the city nazim arbitrarily promised the completion of road-work in certain localities within 15 days. But as the traffic jams continue — each one worse than the last — it is clear that the claim/order was too tall to be realistic in the first place.
