| July 11, 2008 | Friday | Rajab 7, 1429 |
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Respecting Sindh
False victory
Misuse of subsidy on fertiliser
Beware of carjackers
The general reappears
Importance of education
Where are we headed?
When will we wake up?
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
ACCORDING to a news item in this paper (July 8), Manchar Lake water was released into the Indus on Monday. Water quality monitoring strategy must conform to the characteristics of lake water. Arsenic has no relevancy with lake water. It occurs in groundwaters only. Other lake water-related parameters, which require monitoring, are (typically) chlorophyll, a blue-green algae, total phosphorus, soluble reactive phosphorus, fecal coliforms (if there is sewage discharge), DDT, dissolved oxygen, copper, lead, zinc (industrial discharges would warrant more toxic elements) and, trihalomethanes (in treated drinking waters of Hyderabad city).
It may be stated that Manchar Lake water is generally toxic. It is immoral to discharge toxic effluents in valuable water resource like the Indus river. Dilution may work for organic load. It is not appropriate for toxic elements. Nobody will drink a glass of water, containing 0.07 mg/l of cyanide (allowed by WHO) on a long-term basis. Hyderabad water treatment plants do have the potential to remove toxic metals. So, whatever comes in through the raw water, will pass on in the finished waters.
Significant knowledge of lake and river characteristics is required, other than the simple tests, to manage rational monitoring strategy and, interpret the results sensibly. Physical transport in river is produced by river flow. Some pollutants may be carried in solution. The transportation rates are equivalent to the velocity of flow in the river.
Dissolved pollutants get diluted downstream. Substances with low solubility are ‘absorbed’ by particles shortly after introduction into a river. Such substances are deposited in the river bed during low flow and are transported by resuspension at higher flows. However, most polluting substances occur in both absorbed and soluble forms, with an equilibrium occurring between the solute and particle phases.
In a lake, pollutants follow a number of physical, chemical and biological pathways which are dependent on the chemical characteristics of the element or compound. Pollutants which are hydrophilic (soluble in water) are transported with the physical circulation of the water mass in the lake. Pollutants mix with the lake water and are eliminated within the water residence time (turnover time) of the lake.
Dispersion of pollutants into the lake is controlled by diffusion and water mass movements. Lake stratification has a direct effect on retention time and distribution of soluble pollutants. Soluble pollutants in warm river water entering a stratified lake mix rapidly into the warm waters of the epilimnion (top layer). The mixing and the turnover time are accelerated in epilimnion. In contrast, as river waters cool in the autumn, they may inter-stratify in the hypolimnion (main body) or directly underflow to the deeper waters of the hypolimnion.
Toxic elements and organic pollutants (e.g. DDT) of low solubility (hydrophobic) or which are fat soluble (lipophilic) are adsorbed by particles of inorganic or biological origin. Elimination of these pollutants closely follows the processes of sediment sorting and deposition (water circulation, wave-induced hydraulic energy and settling of particles of different sizes in waters of different temperatures.
Sampling should extend to the Manchar lake outlet (Aral Wah) and the upstream of the outlet (along Indus river). Sampling should include particulate and biological matter. Water quality assessment is best handled by those who are qualified in the field of water and wastewater engineering (environmental engineering).
F.H. MUGHAL
Karachi
THIS is with reference to Kiran Shirazi’s letter (June 21) in response to Bina Shah’s article, ‘Respecting Sindh’.
Ms Shirazi has raised some important points for progress and prosperity of Sindh which are not only agreeable but appreciable also. But she has fallen short of the deciding line.
She is absolutely correct in saying that “we have to set the goals clearly and then to strive hard to attain them”. She describes these goals as “to have an educated, peaceful and prosperous Sindh”. That is also undisputed.
To achieve this goal she mentions education, literacy (especially among womenfolk), health facilities, road network and water as pre-requisites. That too is correct. She presses for “need to bridge the gap between rural and urban parts (of Sindh). Also a very noble desire.
The crying question is that how, and who, to achieve all this? The writer seems to have no answer though an inkling of her thinking comes out when she says that “...sisters like Ms Shah should spend a part of their vacations in teaching our girls from rural areas”.
Here the gap between the objective and the means to realise it is unbridgeable. The prescription Ms Shirazi is suggesting is like using a bucket to dry the sea. She wants to change society, change a whole people and she must know that to bring a grassroots level change is not the work of a charity. A great champion of change George Habbash once said that “charity starts when revolutionary zeal vanishes”.
Ms Shirazi is asking for the change in system, so she must be aware that the people who are benefiting from the prevailing system will resist such change. In other words, they would try to maintain status quo. So the struggle for change is in fact a fight between two sets of people: those who favour status quo and those who aspire for change.
To bring about change means, and needs, to defeat the forces of status quo. They will not run away with our best wishes and noble thoughts. To defeat the all- powerful forces of status quo, a gigantic act, is needed and that act is called by the name most of us are afraid to to spell. Yes, I mean ‘revolution’.
Are we ready for revolution and willing to play our role in it ?
ABDUL KHALIQUE JUNEJO
Karachi
THIS is with reference to Ardeshir Cowasjee’s column, ‘Sam Bahadur’ (July 6). I can feel Mr Cowesjee’s sadness on the demise of Field Marshal Manekshaw. I have no doubt that he was a fine soldier, gentleman and a brilliant officer. Indeed a rare and vanishing breed of officers that were produced by the armed forces of that era.
However, just to put history in the right perspective, the victory of the Indian army in 1971 war was not really ‘resounding’. Picture the situation at that crucial time. Pakistan was in total disarray and engaged in its own civil war with Muktibani. About 51 per cent of its population comprised Bengalis and their loyalty was in doubt. As a matter of fact there were mass defections.
At that time most Bengali soldiers were probably helping India rather than supporting their own military. Moreover, Pakistan was not equipped to support the war fought thousands of miles from the West Wing with a hostile country in between supporting the secessionists. It was a lose-lose situation for Pakistan and a plum chance for India to claim a ‘resounding victory’. It was more like shooting a dying man.
If India had held back its naked aggression into the then sovereign Pakistan and waited, Bangladesh would have happened anyway. I would rather call it a victory presented to him in a silver platter.
I am not writing this to belittle his decorated service. I am sure that, as Mr Cowesjee had narrated, he would have measured up high in any given battlefield however tough it might be, but I am sorry to say that this one wasn’t.
We owe our loss and humiliation to our two ‘great’ political leaders, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and Shaikh Mujibur Rahman.
IFTIKHAR AHMED
United States
THE grievance of agriculturists appearing in this paper from time to time against fertiliser companies’ role of exploiting subsidies on DAP and urea, as well as the latest one of Dr Zahid Hussain Jatoi (‘DAP subsidy fails to bring fertility’, 2 July), is not without substance.
Unfortunately, like many other powerful business concerns the companies dealing in fertilisers have also formed a cartel. It is they who, taking advantage of extremely pathetic position of farmer and slack government regulatory control, pocket most of the benefit of financial support given by the government in the shape of subsidy.
In order to meet genuine complaints of the growers, the ministry of agriculture has to take some appropriate and adequate measures in right earnest.
The present grim scenario demands that proposals of Mr Jatoi for publishing rates of DAP and urea in the national newspapers on a daily basis etc will go a long way in mitigating the miseries of the cultivator.
RAFIQUE AHMED SIDDIQUI
Karachi
CARJACKING has become an everyday event in the country, especially in big cities. According to a report in a section of the press, in Karachi alone at least 601 cars were hijacked in the last three months. Some time the car owner or other occupants are also robbed or kidnapped during carjacking.
Incidents of carjacking can be traumatic as it creates fear. Victims have reported being unable to drive a car again while others require months of therapy. Some of them become embarrassingly hypersensitive and dangerous whenever they find someone approaching their car or passing by it.
Carjacking can occur anywhere, but mostly it occurs in busy commercial areas where cars are parked and when the owner is entering or exiting the parked vehicle. However, popular carjacking places are parking lots, near shopping centres, petrol pumps, ATMs’, fast food outlets, etc.
Another favourite location for the carjacker is a roadway intersection with a traffic signal light. At this location a carjacker usually attempts to pull open unlocked doors and force the driver to get out or he himself enters the car and forces the driver at gun-point to move to the given direction.
Another trick used by carjackers is to follow the intended victim to a suitable location with good escape routes and ‘bump’ into the back of his car at low speed with enough force to make him believe a traffic accident had just occurred. Typically, the drivers of both vehicles pull over, stop, and get out discussing the damage. At this point the carjackers rob their victim at gunpoint and drive away with the victim’s car.
With common sense and presence of mind attempts by carjackers can be prevented. Here are a few tips:
• Don’t park your car in isolated or visually obstructed areas near walls or heavy foliage, and at night always park it in well- lighted areas.
• As you approach your car, look around, under and inside it and if safe, open the door, enter quickly, and lock the doors and drive away immediately.
• In the city always drive with your car doors locked and windows rolled up.
• If you are bumped in traffic, by young males, be suspicious of the accident.
• Beware of the ‘Good Samaritan’ who offers to repair your car or a flat tyre. It’s okay to get help, but be alert.
• Never offer lift to a stranger, even to a woman or to an old man unless you are satisfied.
• Never try to speed up your car if you are signalled to stop by some suspicious armed persons, they can open fire on your car in frustration. Use your common sense and act accordingly.
• If you are confronted by an armed carjacker, stay calm and don’t resist. Give up your keys, money, cellphone, etc, if demanded.
• If a carjacker has entered your car and you are forced to drive, consider crashing your car near a busy intersection/place to attract attention so that bystanders can come to your help and call the police, but be sure you are not within the range of the gun or any other weapon of the hijackers while attempting to do so. This should be hundred per cent ensured because your personal safety is of utmost importance.
SQN LDR ( r) S. AUSAF HUSAIN
Karachi
THIS is with reference to a news item (July 5) about President Musharraf being back on stage after a long time. I watched part of his speech on TV. What he actually said was that he was trained as a commando and his strategy was to be always on the offensive, rather than being defensive.
I was much depressed by this reappearance. It is sad to see that the ruling coalition has rather failed to devise and implement a united national strategy, which has ‘emboldened President Musharraf’, in Dawn’s words.
If our politicians still do not learn a lesson, dictatorship may take charge again — in the form of some constitutional and/or extraconstitutional steps. If that happens, I am afraid that the common Pakistani will welcome it and condemn the politicians who have failed them rather completely.
Alas! The former general and others like him seem to have learned the tactics that work only well against Pakistani citizens but fail to impress an enemy.
MRS ANJUM ESHRATI
Islamabad
THOSE who are deprived of education are like the flower that doesn’t smell. Education is the only source of building a civilised society. Despite the fact that education is indispensable for the development of a country, none of our successive governments have paid serious attention to education, due to which our country lags behind.
Pakistan is one of the countries with the lowest literacy rates in the world. In 2007, the literacy rate in the country was 56 per cent — 63 per cent male and just 36 per cent female — which shows that our rulers have not been sincere about improving educational standards in the country.
Furthermore, 55 million of Pakistan’s population above the age of 10 cannot read and write or do simple calculations and it is estimated that only 57 per cent of girls and women in Pakistan are able enough to read and write while the remaining 43 per cent are deprived of reading and writing ability.
Moreover, the enrolment of population in secondary education is 44 per cent and post-secondary is just 4.6 per cent, which shows how far we are away from development.
The government should pay serious attention to education. More money should be spent on educational institutions than on ‘war on terror’. Until and unless a nation has strong educational standards, it will be hard to compete with the developed nations in this fast-moving world where everything is based on knowledge.
AMJID BOJAIR
Turbat, Kech
WE are mentally deranged by the kind of situation our country is passing through. We have become a traumatised society that loves to watch burnt corpses, damaged public properties and infernos. The country’s economic woes are increasing. People are dying or committing suicide from starvation. We are losing our own people at the cost of the war we are fighting for others. We have made more enemies than friends. Can somebody tell me where we are headed?
SALMAN KIDWAI
Karachi
THIS is apropos of the news item, ‘KU hit hard by cut in HEC funds’ (June 28). It is unfortunate that the federal finance ministry has stopped the release of the Higher Education Commission (HEC)’s fourth quarterly instalment of development and recurring grant of over Rs8 billion.
Education and research play a vital role in any country’s progress because both pave the way for an englightened society.
Societies that do not embrace research are destined to be doomed while those that do embrace it reap rewards.
The government instead of strengthening the research unit (HEC) of Karachi University is pegging it back by not providing it its due share.
Power outages have not helped matters either as it hampers research work. To overcome it, the government must set up a power generation and distribution system at the university.
Persistent power outages have been a major hurdle in carrying out research work. Also, more money is need to be spent on strengthening the existing departments rather than building new infrastructures. Having said that, the government should also strengthen the primary education as this forms the basis of any child. Look at a country like Sri Lanka: despite facing a civil war, it has made primary education free.
As a result of which, the Island boasts a 100 per cent literacy rate. The government should come forward with education reforms to boost the literacy rate in the country and pave the way for an enlightened and egalitarian state.
HAMDAN SIDDIQUI
Karachi
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