Federal bureaucracy to green the capital?

NO sooner had a major political party contending for the two National Assembly seats from the federal capital announced its election manifesto of five ‘Es’, in which environment is one of the five major points, the federal bureaucracy came up with the plan of Green City Islamabad, a programme to enable the capital to attain the status of a green city by, according to officials, meeting the requirements of a set of international environmental protection standards known as Euro-II.

What federal officials neglected to mention is that the concept of a green city is basically a UN initiative outlined in its two documents, the Green Cities Declaration and the Urban Environmental Accords, presented at a World Environment Day conference in San Francisco in June 2005, and that this initiative is targeted at city mayors, or in Islamabad’s case, the future district nazim.

Recognising the capacity of city mayors as change agents for turning urban communities into models of sustainable development, as well as forming part of a new UN policy “think globally and act locally”, the two UN documents require the signatures of city mayors instead of federal or state/provincial governments.

Technically speaking then, only a district nazim heading an elected local government in Islamabad can sign the two UN documents and commit his city to specific legislative and policy goals towards green city status.

But since a local government is still not in place in Islamabad, the federal bureaucracy, as jointly represented by Capital Development Authority (CDA), the ICT administration, the federal ministry of environment and the Pakistan Environment Protection Agency (Pak-EPA), has taken upon itself the task of leading the greening programme of the capital city.

To put itself on the road towards achieving green city status, the first document which Islamabad needs to sign into effect is the “Green Cities Declaration”, a statement of principles setting the agenda for the mayor’s assigned task of providing leadership to develop sustainable urban centres. The second document, Urban Environment Accords, includes 21 specific actions (termed Agenda 21) for the mayors to take, according to a timetable for implementation.

And the reward for the mayor, or the district nazim in Islamabad’s case? Up to a maximum of four green stars for his city!

According to the UN Accords, if the mayor can complete 8-11 of the 21 actions, the city will get a green star, and the designation “Local Sustainable City”. Completing 12-17 actions will garner it two green stars and the designation “National Sustainable City”.

If the mayor manages to complete 15-18 actions, this will bring in three stars and the title “Regional Sustainable City”. Completing 19-21 actions will give the city four green stars and the ultimate designation of “Global Sustainable City”.

In implementing the accords, the mayor is required to engage in open and active participatory dialogue with residents, community groups, business, academic institutions and other stakeholders. To monitor progress and enforcement, the city mayors may appoint a special city council, city department or advisory group that will work with the mayors in setting goals and overseeing the implementation process.

But turning a city like Islamabad into a green city involves not only controlling emissions from industries, motor vehicles, etc., and the preservation and the development of more green areas and parks.

According to Agenda 21, other actions include increasing the use of renewable energy, i.e., solar and wind power, by 10 per cent by 2012; reducing the city’s peak electric load by 10 per cent through energy efficiency; developing and implementing a policy which expands affordable public transportation coverage to within half-a-kilometre of all city residents; and establishing an air quality index (AQI) to measure the level of pollution and setting the goal of reducing by 10 per cent the number of days categorised in the AQI range as ‘unhealthy’ or ‘hazardous’.

Since Islamabad does not as yet have a representative local government, can the non-representative federal bureaucracy sign the two UN documents into effect to achieve the appropriate green city status for the city after abiding by the appropriate actions? Who in the federal bureaucracy can sign in place of the district nazim?

Pedestrian bridges in Gulshan

Sir,

Though a number of projects have been initiated by City Nazim Mustafa Kamal, which includes flyovers and underpasses, a lot more needs to be done by the town nazim in Gulshan-i-Iqbal Town.

The students of Karachi University, Fuuast and NED University face a lot of problems in the afternoon while crossing the roads due to the non-availability of pedestrian bridges near the Baitul Mukkaram mosque and Expo Centre.

There have been several instances when students have been injured while crossing the road by speedy vehicles coming from Nipa Chowrangi and going towards the old Sabzi Mandi.

The city nazim and Town Nazim Mohammad Wasey Jalil are requested to look into the matter on a priority basis and arrange the construction of several pedestrian bridges from Nipa Chowrangi up to Hasan Square flyover in order to save precious human lives.

Residents of Blocks 13-A and 13-D

Gulshan-i-Iqbal Town

Rising crime

Sir,

This is to inform you that in our area daily incidents of theft, car theft, and other criminal activities have become routine. Through these columns, I would like to inform the authorities concerned to take necessary action so that we can live in a peaceful atmosphere.

IRSHAD HUSAIN

Sector 15-A/5, Buffer Zone

Disputed mosque

Sir,

According to a news item appearing in Dawn’s Metropolitan section (Dec 8, 2007) the Qadeemi Masjid, near Jama Cloth Market, Karachi, has been sealed off by the police once again on Friday, Dec 7, 2007. It was closed two months earlier due to a violent clash over the control of the mosque between two schools of thought.

Apart from the actual control of the mosque prior to the tussle only two months ago (who was in control of it before that?), a pertinent question can be asked: if, according to the Sunni Tehreek, this mosque was in the hands of the Ahle Sunnah since 1947, why was it handed over to the Deobandi group two months ago?

If the Muslims follow the Sunnah and Shariah, they should not have differences of opinion with regard to a mosque or mosques. The tragedy of Muslim decline is the different interpretations of Sunnah, Shariah, and even the Holy Quran. And this has come about because Islam has been in the hands of – or interpreted by – barely educated maulvis and mullahs, and not Aalims.

This is the age of literacy, education, knowledge (which has been stressed upon by the Holy Prophet (PBUH), common sense, intellect, tolerance and democracy. Must the Ummah fight over such petty matters as the control of a mosque? If you have to fight at all, then fight ignorance and intolerance.

M.K. NAQVI Karachi

Dirty water

Sir,

Since Nov 29, 2007, contaminated sewage has been pouring out of the fresh water connection at my house. Utilizing the e-governance initiative, I called the city nazim’s much touted ‘1339’ helpline to register a complaint. My complaint (number 7951) was registered the same day. Since then filthy sewage continues to pour from the connection. Unknown to other users in this area, their tanks must certainly be contaminated, but the KWSB is oblivious.

I have called the helpline daily for the last one week only to be told that the complaint has been forwarded to the relevant department. They are obviously not using e-governance for relaying/forwarding complaints because even after two weeks, nothing has happened. Perhaps the CDGK/KWSB rely on tried and tested pigeons to transmit complaints, thus the delay.

I have also sent the city nazim an e-mail from his website, which, till date, has not had the courtesy of a reply.

The DHA has responded immediately to contamination cases by cleaning the tanks and supplying water through tankers. They get the job done.

SAEED

Via e-mail

Security at post offices

Sir,

There had reportedly been a robbery in early November at the post office located at Noorani Chowk, where Shahrah-i-Quaideen and Khalid Bin Waleed Road intersect. As a result, the staff has been very concerned about its security and, according to my information, had asked their superiors to arrange for proper security.

However, no security was provided. Then, around Nov 17, there were reportedly three more hold-ups committed in as many post offices, including the same one. But so far, no preventive measures appear to have been taken. As a result, the post office is no longer open until 9pm and its working hours have been reduced, causing an inconvenience to the public.

In the interest of the safety of post office employees and convenience of those who use the postal facilities or pay their bills, the authorities concerned are requested to look into the matter urgently.

M. IJAZ

PECHS

Phone complaint

Sir,

My home phone (461-6453) has been out of order since Sept, 2007, and I am spending a great deal of time just on lodging complaints. But I have not had a response from the PTCL. I am paying my phone bill of Rs520 each month without using my phone. Why has the PTCL not stopped billing me?

NAEEM

Via e-mail

city@dawn.com

Whither beautification?

Nobody is going to celebrate the so-called beautification of the city undertaken by the incumbent city government and its predecessors over the past seven years or so. The plan (or “master plan”) has already eaten up billions of rupees and is certain to seek much more given the flurry of recommendations, mostly put forward by councillors, piling up with the CDGK and pending a nod from the city fathers.

A sensible approach may prompt the planners and the authorities concerned to pause for a while to have an honest assessment of how much beauty has been added to the city so far after years of what is being claimed as ‘relentless efforts,’ besides spending billions of the public’s money.

Save the purposeful retrieval of state land from land-grabbers, encroachers and other unscrupulous elements to lay public parks, little remarkable or commendable efforts have emerged on the ground. Thanks to the “mastermind” of the beatification plan, quite a large number of public parks, many of them portrayed as model parks, have now been serving as prairies surrounded by high-rises, buildings or houses in many localities to provide citizens with some oxygen, who are otherwise constantly exposed to vehicular emissions.

This is, no doubt, a great achievement of the mastermind who has killed two birds with a single stone — retrieval of the occupied state lands for restoring their status as amenity plots and helping the public representatives capitalise on a job they are supposed to undertake as a responsibility.

Although citizens are happy to have many such public parks in their neighbourhoods, the question of proper maintenance always agitates their minds as we, as a nation, never spare time to think over such questions.

Ironically, these parks are generally regarded as property of the party in power, and not the state. Many, if not all, public parks have an office-like structure where the party in power holds meetings to sort out party matters.

Another segment of the beautification plan is the installation of monuments of different shapes at various roundabouts, intersections and such other places. Citizens were expecting something very attractive to be selected for the purpose, but the monuments unveiled disappointed many. So far, a calligraphic epic, “Allah in 3-D,” and a mammoth dinosaur, both made up of concrete, have been installed at some selected sites in the city. A few more monuments, indeed less attractive, may also be seen elsewhere in the city. As far as the dinosaur is concerned, appears to be a great attraction for small children because it’s a legendary creature.

However, in at least one case, the site selected for its installation is wrong, dangerous even. I could not resist breaking my journey to watch a family that happened to be at the site, an intersection in close proximity of an underpass and the adjoining flyover. On both sides of the traffic island runs a busy road. The couple was visibly troubled with their six small children, aged between four and 12, trying to climb up and jump down the dinosaur. The father kept helping one child to climb up while saving the others from getting injured while they jumped down for another “ride.” He had to keep a constant watch on all the children.

The mother had a more nerve-wracking duty. Looking frightened the whole time, she had to act as a ‘guard’ to prevent the children from stepping onto the road next to the island’s boundary so that they were not hit by the vehicles speedily passing by. I could not turn back until the family left the place. “How dangerous is the beautification of intersections,” I thought.

Maybe the authorities concerned have missed this aspect while selecting the site. But seems they have certainly not consulted experts on parks when building the attraction. There are many examples in countries like India, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Turkey where very old parks with exclusive features are still of great attraction for local and foreign tourists. India’s Hanging Gardens and Brindavan Gardens and beaches in Thailand come to mind. Not a single park or monument like the ones mentioned above has so far been proposed to be added to Karachi, unfortunately.— Awam

The twilight zone

Walking along pleasant, tree-lined streets is one of life’s pleasures. It is a great exercise if done regularly and gives one a sense of freedom, not having to depend on the internal combustion engine for the tiniest of distances. Legs are free, CNG isn’t. In such a mood, in the middle of the night, I decided to walk to the home of some old friends in Defence Phase-I and surprise them with a hello. Great … but taking a wrong turn (one likes to explore when one walks, or else what is the point?) I went through a street that was too quiet… except for the caw-caw of crows in the trees. Crows awake in the middle of the night? Yes … there was a graveyard behind the DHA offices.

The birds over there are wide awake and active no matter how dark it gets. The birds on the other streets, everywhere else, even on the streets next to this one, were not active. I did not notice any sound coming from the trees in the homes next to the graveyard. The birds on the trees in the graveyard were the only ones out and about, flying here and there like they might have done in daylight.

There is no rubbish heap there and I am sure I did not wake up those birds. They were already awake.

I have never been impressed with ghost stories, but a day later it was observed that birds on the trees where I live have started making noise in the middle of the night, when they should be fast asleep. Did ‘something’ follow me home?

This phenomenon happens only at my home and the graveyard behind the DHA offices in Phase-I. The other graveyard is peaceful.

I would love to know the name of the person who got buried there and then followed me home. I guess I am not the only one who likes to take a walk in the middle of the night. Any other explanations would be welcome.—

Shahzad Hasan
Compiled by Syed Hassan Ali
Email: karachian@dawn.com