Sir, With reference to the news item ‘Chlorination dilemma: officials weigh options’ (June 13), it has been conclusively proved that adding even small amounts of chlorine to water can result in cancer, stroke and heart disease over a long period of time. Short-term health problems like skin and eye diseases are also very likely, as stated in the news item.

The recommended ratio of chlorine to water is two parts per million, but in the DHA apartment complex I live in, a very high amount of chlorine is added (perhaps more than 20 times the recommended amount). As a result, it is sometimes impossible to drink or bathe in this highly chlorinated water.

Unfortunately it is futile to point this out to the management, because they have been told to do so by their superiors. The authorities should consider other options (like hydrogen peroxide) to remove germs from water.

SHAKIR LAKHANI Clifton

Road blocked

Sir, In the heart of Clifton, right behind Teen Talwar, a service road has been blocked off by barriers guarded by police. This has been done, neighbours say, for the protection of a bureaucrat’s residence.

This is an important service road as it connects other roads which have heavy traffic. A commercial market and residential flats are also situated on it. No vehicles can be parked on this road. As a result traffic on the back road has doubled with hardly any parking left for residents and visitors.

Why this inconvenience to the public for the security of a government officer?

DR SYED H. NASIR Via email

Illegal structures: an appeal

Sir, I refer to the appeal made by a resident in Dawn’s ‘Letters to the Editor’ section on June 10 regarding the illegal encroachment of an amenity plot (ST-32) reserved for a public park in Block 15, Gulistan-i-Jauhar.

It is amazing that though the Sindh High Court has declared the said construction illegal and ordered its demolition, the concerned authority (the police) appears to be totally helpless before the brute force of the encroachers. Construction is going on in full swing without any fear of punishment. The various court notices affixed to the entry point of this illegal construction were ripped apart. If this is the state of affairs, what hope can the long-suffering and law-abiding public have from the government if the law-enforcing agencies are gripped with fear of the land mafia and powerful qabza groups, all with the open support of certain politicians?

All the residents of this area appeal to the Chief Justice of Pakistan, who has been active in redressing various acts of injustice, to restore to the residents their public park and their Eidgah.

ANOTHER RESIDENT Via email

Poor law and order

Sir, There has been a surge in crimes in the DHA. Muggings, kidnappings and car snatching have become routine for a neighbourhood which was once famous for being peaceful and secure. It appears as if DHA Vigilance is in the hands of an incompetent team which has taken no steps to restore the confidence of residents.

The DHA administrator must take serious note of this alarming situation.

ARSALAN AHMED DHA

KU financial crisis

Sir, This is apropos of recent media reports regarding the University of Karachi’s financial crisis. Being a KU graduate, this news is a tragedy for me and many other alumni. But this is not surprising, nor is it the first time the university has gone through such a crisis.

Although I am a critic of the KU administration, it is also a fact that this is the place where I, alongside thousands of others, learnt our trades. I strongly believe it is payback time for all the KU graduates who have great memories attached to the campus.

Currently, it is home to almost 20,000 students from every part of the country and every part of society. This time the financial crisis is more serious than ever. Therefore I have a few suggestions for the KU management to ease out these hard times.

1. Start a KU relief fund for the alumni where they can donate money for the university, although it should not be called a donation. KU has thousands of alumni and even if 50,000 alumni (there are probably over one million alumni) contribute Rs1,000 each they can raise a considerable amount. Transparency should be a must and if this idea has been tried before then it’s worth trying again on a bigger scale.

2. The KU management must decrease their expenses; one way of doing this is to commercialise everything they can. For instance the expense of the shuttle points can be decreased if the buses have advertisements all over their body. Also, every centre and department should be sponsored by some company; there are many firms which are willing to do so.

3. Lastly, the considerable acres of empty space available on campus must be put to good use. Lease them out to franchises, especially restaurants, which will help in raising capital for the university.

The bottom line is that the KU management should start thinking about raising money on its own as most of the time the HEC is short of funds resulting in crisis at public sector universities. I hope the persons concerned give due attention to my suggestions so that I can see my beloved university back on its feet.

QAZI HAMMAD North Karachi

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