| January 19, 2007 | Friday | Zilhaj 28, 1427 |
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Onward with the peace process
Services Hospital
News from KESC
Remodelling of barrages
Time to move on
Nothing to cheer about
Management policies
Energy-saving measures
Discipline at marathon
KWSB and water management
Wapda clarifies
Readers are requested to restrict their comments to a maximum of 400 words. We reserve the right to edit letters for reasons of clarity and space. Letters, including those by e-mail, should carry the complete postal address of the sender. The views expressed in these columns do not necessarily reflect the views of the newspaper.—Editor
MR Manmohan Singh’s desire for safety and freedom of movement for the grandchildren is fair, noble and humanitarian. Highly educated economist and seasoned politician, Mr Singh first voiced his wish at a public rally in Amritsar and within a short span reiterated identifying Amritsar, Lahore and Kabul.
Every move, location and speech of the chief executive of the world’s largest democracy must have been subjected to thorough deliberation and scrutiny before delivery.
It may not be a mere coincidence that for the first time Amritsar was the venue of the public rally and for the second time it was again Amritsar, a starting point on way to Kabul via Lahore.
Was it that an Indian Sikh mustering support of his community to whom Amritsar and Lahore are dear, and in the capacity of the chief executive of India inadvertently disclosing his desire to use Pakistan as a passage to Afghanistan, more so while speaking to the Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industries of
India?
In the subcontinent there are many people, if not entire nations, who harbour identical wish and have voiced it time and again.
Therefore, had Mr Singh also addressed the residents of Lahore and Sialkot that they too would be able to take breakfast at home and lunch on a Shakara houseboat on the Dal lake, and had he also said Kashmiri families, living under one roof in 1948 and divided perforce, will be united again, Mr Singh’s wish would have deserved the legitimacy, dignity and respect.
The wish of the common people or for that matter Mr Singh’s may unfortunately remain a ‘wish’, however with one fundamental and crucial difference that the common man may continue to indulge in ‘day-dreaming’ whereas the elected prime minister of India, His Excellency Manmohan Singh, is bestowed with the executive powers and can ensure that the dream comes true during his tenure and lifetime rather than to wait for his grandchildren to see.
It is still not too late for the prime minister of India to give a fair, honest and just roadmap and modus operandi that the ‘wish’ is realised during our lifetime.
I assure Mr Singh that the people and the chief executive of Pakistan will lend full support to implement a fair, honest and just resolution of the issues.
Mr Manmohan Singh will go down in the history as a visionary who took the ‘bull by the horns’ and made the subcontinent a safe haven.
KHAWAJA ABDUL SAMEE
Karachi
YOUR editorial endorsement of the India-Pakistan peace process (Jan16) is seminal and significant for understanding and harmony in view of the changing dynamics in the subcontinent. Further, your advice to keep aside the Kashmir issue from the current negotiation will disarm all those who want to foment and stoke the movement for their personal goal rather than a real desire for peace and prosperity in Kashmir.
As it has been noted, the two countries with their shared past, culture, and heritage can get along far better than the European countries that fought for centuries. If there is a border-less border between Canada and the United States, there can be a border-less border between Pakistan and India. People from both sides have suffered enough and it is time a build a bridge to connect their families and friends.
NIRODE MOHANTY
Huntington Beach,
USA
IT is truly heartening to see the progress being made in regard to relations between Pakistan and India. In life one important lesson that you learn is that hatred only gets you hatred in return. We have to break the old taboo that was associated with people from India by our elder generation. The Indian media also needs to play a positive role in this regard and stop bashing Pakistan on every occasion. We need to realise that people of any race, religion or ethnicity are just as good or bad as any other.
The only possible way we can break the current negative mindset is to open up more and more communication among ordinary people from both the countries, so that they realise that from inside we are all the same. It’s time that the new generation and the new leadership in Pakistan started thinking outside the box.
RUBINA QAIMKHANI
MNA, PPP,
Islamabad
I AM grateful to the Sindh health minister who, considering the wishes of the citizens voiced through your esteemed paper, has finally decided not to dismantle the Services Hospital as reported in Dawn, ‘Services Hospital to have modern facilities’ (Jan 14).
The minister has, however, stated that some of the facilities available in the hospital premises would be shifted to other places and a trauma centre built there.
As I have suggested in my letter (Dec 14) that notwithstanding the trauma centre’s significance, constructing a multi-storeyed complex on the city’s most busy road, with maximum ratio of atmospheric pollution, is extremely ill-advised. The area where the hospital is located is one of the highly congested and jampacked locations of the old city.
Besides, amenities and services such as water, sewerage and electricity are almost the same when the population of the entire city was about 0.350 million (now more than 10 million). Under these circumstances, adding one more complex will not only expose the people living around to more miseries but will be traumatic for the patients of trauma as well.
A modern trauma centre not only requires a hygienic atmosphere but also needs clear approaches so that patients in severe anguish may not suffer more, while being carried to the centre, on account of VVIP movements or some political or religious events for which roads are closed more often than not.
The proposal given in the earlier reports for establishing modern trauma centre either at the Sea Breeze Hospital or the Roti Plant area is worth considering. It will not only keep the old locality from further congestion but provide viable facility to trauma patients. Last but not the least, an age-old monument of the Services Hospital will also be preserved for times to come.
MANSOOR-UL-HAQ SOLANGI
Karachi
THE other day a bi-monthly newsletter was dropped into houses in my neighbourhood. It was the second issue of a newsletter from KESC aptly named Connection and carried the slogan “Connecting KESC to its customers”, which really means to almost everyone in Karachi.
Rarely is the life of everyone in a big city so closely intertwined with the working or failures of a single enterprise as is the case with Karachi and the KESC, long neglected by successive governments, while the system aged and deteriorated and the growth of industry and the population put ever increasing demand on its power system. Here is the moment of truth and no end of misery in sight in the foreseeable future.
The issue of Connection is nevertheless welcome. We will at least be able to know about the KESC’s perception and assessment of the power situation from time to time. The four-page newsletter is bilingual with both Urdu and English parts (with a leaf each) containing identical information. The newsletter describes various measures the KESC is taking and plans to improve the power situation in the metropolis.
There appear to be two glaring omissions. While we are given the good news that Rs22 billion is budgeted in the ‘current’ year for addition of a hefty 500 MW to the KESC’s power capacity, the newsletter fails to link this to a timeframe. This is ominous and appears to presage another long hot summer.
An interesting item in the newsletter is the appeal by the chief executive for saving power through each consumer turning off one 100 Watt bulb to effect a total saving of 200 MW. While the proposal is valid, such proposals normally originate from civic bodies and governments and a power company asking people to consume less power sums up the situation more graphically than any words can.
Another odd item is the appeal in the newsletter that citizens report to the KESC (on 118) cases of electricity theft. One may well ask whether cases of open and highly visible theft of electricity have been dealt with and eliminated.
WAJID NAEEMUDDIN
Karachi
THE looming energy crisis is confronting the government functionaries, as well as the people. Inhabitants of urban areas who are the major consumers of power are the worst sufferers.
Oil-fired thermal plants are becoming unviable due to an alarming increase in the price of oil. As far as the harnessing of renewable sources of energy is concerned, it has certain limitations and it also requires large investment.
In the above scenario, hydropower generation is the best option. However, the major hydropower resources are located in northern areas and considerable line losses are reported during delivery of power to load centres in the central and southern parts of the country.
To ameliorate the situation it is proposed that immediate steps may be taken for exploring the possibility of power generation through making slight modification in the design of existing barrages.
Here it will not be out of place to mention that the poor villagers of northern areas, who are mostly illiterate, run flour mills by harnessing the power of flowing water. The engineers of Wapda, as well as of other institutions, e.g., Pakistan Council of Scientific and Industrial Research and Pakistan Science Foundation, may examine the above model and design mechanism for generation of power from water flowing at barrages and canal heads.
S.A. KHAN
Karachi
DANISH KANERIA’S below par performance against South Africa is cause for concern. He could not have asked for a more spinner-friendly surface. It certainly turned out to be so for the leg spinner from South Africa with much less exposure at the international level.
He was difficult to score off in relatively long spells of controlled action and held one end conceding very little - even to the experienced Pakistan top order. Also, he held his nerves together well. Above all, Paul Harris made his presence felt and count in no uncertain terms during the second Pakistan innings with a telling contribution.
Let’s be fair. The much revered leg spinner from Pakistan added to the team effort and made his contribution to the best of his ability but all said and done, it paled in comparison.
Appropriately, we need to trace the fault line and see where it lies. In his case, an impartial assessment would help the cause greatly as the team struggles to square up the series next and looks ahead to the World Cup and beyond.
Unquestionably, all would agree on the underlying fact that Kaneria needs to ‘walk the walk’. There is nothing wrong for being ambitious but the ‘deliverables’ in his case have been poor – both, in terms of quality and quantity (hardly quantifiable, to say the least).
As in any business venture, with no ROI (return on investment) in sight, Kaneria’s future looks bleak and no one should take any surprises to find him sidelined soon. Kaneria has failed to realise his full potentials, given the fact that he has not mastered the other variations and is read easily and predictability.
The uncertainty factor that is so vital for the ultimate punch has been severely lacking in our lone frontline spinner and may spell need for a change in that department.
Unlike the old days, plain style spin bowling is simply not good enough to sustain the team effort for prolonged periods of time. This key slot needs to be handed over to a youngster who is equipped better in terms of subtle variations and has the desire and ability to succeed and sustain success with inherent capabilities outlined above.
MOHSIN MALIK
California, USA
THIS refers to ‘A proud Karahciite’ (letter, Jan 11). “It will be a folly of the century if one calls Karachi a city of lights. Drive over Natha Khan, Korangi Bridge or for that matter on the outer periphery of the Quaid’s Mazar, believe you me, it gives a nostalgic feeling that you are driving through a ghost city. Clifton/Bath Island, Gulistan-i-Jauhar and innumerable areas have become nightmarish.
From Teen Talwar to Do Talwar, the open drain is presenting a spectacle worse than that of the most wretched cities of the world. Those who waste time in ‘atish bazi’ near Bagh-i-Ibne Qasim and near the Seaview during the Hamara Karachi festivals only sprinkle salt on the open wound of Karachiites.
Karachi is stinking and there is nothing to cheer about, our city is a dump of garbage, filthy storm drain, bumpy roads, streets strewn with beggars, and cellphone and car snatchers.
Those who celebrate, they deliberately divert our attention that everything is all right in Karachi and honey and money is flowing from Sohrab Goth to Clifton and from Jodia Bazaar to Korangi.
Karachi’s Civil Hospital is in such a pathetic condition that even animal will refuse to get treatment there and we are busy in ‘atish bazi’.
As a matter of fact, Mr Fida Ali rightly depicted Karachi’s ‘asli surat’, we should call a spade a spade.
SAFIR A SIDDIQUI
Karachi
I AM one of the persons who paid Rs5,000 for the issuance of the digital certificates from NIFT for e-filling in the CBR. Although the CBR/NIFT revised the charges and announced that people who deposited Rs5,000 will be allowed two years’ validity, NIFT has issued renewal notices and in my case revoked the digital ID. On protest I was told that it is mandatory to renew the certificate, which should not have expired in the first place.
To renew I was asked to submit the following documents to their office: Manually-filled and signed form, copy of the CNIC, copy of the original Rs5,000 bank draft which was deposited a year ago. Why I need to resubmit all these document and including a copy of the bank draft in this day and age is beyond me. I was curtly told that this is the NIFT management policy and that’s it.
It seems that taxpayers cannot get any respite even after paying fee, charges and taxes. If it is not the department, then the inconvenience is outsourced to private entities. The expectation that I either fish out the copy of a year-old draft or pay the renewal fee again is extremely highhanded and highly detestable.
MOHSIN A. QAZI
Islamabad
THE government is considering various options to meet the expected power shortfall from May 2007. One of the options could be to implement daylight saving hours by moving the clock one hour ahead from April to October.
This way sunset will be delayed one hour late until 8.30pm and there will be no need to reduce normal business hours.
Hence, there will be minimal impact on the economy. This option could only work in conjunction with other measures like curtailing the illumination at marriage halls and ending the marriage ceremonies by 11pm.
ABDUL RASOOL HOODBHOY
Toronto, Canada
I TOOK part in the third International Marathon in Lahore. Soon after I crossed the start line though, all of my passion and enthusiasm vanished. I noticed several participants of the 10km marathon crossing the canal just to go a little ahead of others, throwing water bottles at the spectators along the road.
Most of the participants belonged to reasonable families, so I couldn’t understand why they were exhibiting such a bad conduct. I request, especially the youngsters of this nation, to act decently at such mega events to show a good image of Pakistan.
HAFIZ HASSAN
Lahore
KARACHIITES are suffering the vagaries of development and it is nearly impossible to plan a visit within a time limitation to many parts of the city, specially industrial areas like SITE, Korangi and Landhi. Main roads are closed without prior announcements, causing havoc.
These disruptions are most unfortunate as a little planning and care would go a long way in helping the hapless citizens. And with the chaos of road development, the Karachi Water and Sewerage Board is adding further to the miseries.
The KWSB is causing enormous problems and quite unnecessarily.
An example would show their behaviour: A lane in KDA Scheme No. 1, block D, was dug up without any planning three months back for a new sewerage line.
All the existing water and sewerage services were ‘pulled out’ and new sewerage pipe was laid, but without reconnecting any of the services.
Each house was asked to get the services reconnected at their own cost. This was a very expensive affair.
Of course, it is not possible to get the road repaired on an individual basis, so we have a dug up road with no one to take responsibility.
Unfortunately, the unoccupied houses have not been reconnected even now and the result is that main water pipe connections to such houses have been left damaged.
Main water supply is leaking heavily through such damaged piping (you can hear the sound of underground water leakage if you pass by) and the houses around this area get no water supply and have to buy very expensive tanker water.
Nowhere in the world would you see such an arrogant behaviour. First they damage your services connections and then no action is taken to repair such damage even after three months.
Wastage of city water supply should be considered a crime but then who will bell the cat?
AAZA
Karachi
THIS refers to a news report titled ‘Nepra slams govt for forcing high tariff’ (Jan 13). The report contains inaccuracies regarding Wapda’s setting up of thermal power plants on rental from US companies without competitive bidding.
It is clarified that arrangement for these thermal power projects has been on the basis of international competitive bidding – advertisement for which was carried by Dawn itself on July 11, besides appearing in other major dailies of Pakistan.
In addition, the same was published in The Khalij Times . Furthermore, in order to widen competition and attract more attention, this advertisement for international bidding was also posted on the Wapda website.
It is clarified that efforts to provide quick relief through rental power have been taken in the interest of the public and in a transparent manner. However, rental power is a stop-gap arrangement for a short period. As such, the conditions and tariffs set for long-term projects and normal IPPS cannot be made applicable here.
DIRECTOR
Public Relations, Wapda,
Lahore
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