ONCE upon a time, well not exactly, only half a century ago, Karachi had a beautiful aquarium in Clifton. People from all segments and strata of society would visit it not just for recreation but for research purposes as well, because the facility had a wide variety of species of live fish. It has been established in this column that the vivarium was built with the help of the Japanese government which was more than willing to extend support to Pakistan in the post-September Indo-Pak war scenario.

On Nov 24, 1965 gold fish and carps for the Clifton aquarium, a donation from the Japanese government and the Fishery Corporative for Breeding Linetic Fishes in Tokyo, reached Karachi by Japan Airlines. The donation also included ten of nishikigoi, also known as the rainbow or brocaded carp, a species belonging to the ornamental fish family. Ah, the days when Clifton cut a colourful picture!

The aquarium existed till the 1990s, after which for reasons best known to the authorities concerned, it was closed down. It is sad because over a period of decades, it had become a significant Karachi landmark frequently visited by Karachiites. Efforts were made to relaunch it, to no avail. And it is ironic that the city which is known for its robust marine life does not have such a facility.

What is not ironic, though, is the fact that Karachi’s two major thoroughfares, McLeod Road and Bunder Road (now I.I. Chundrigar Road and M.A. Jinnah Road, respectively) have always been given due importance by municipal and development officials. To date, the main roads bear the burden of heavy traffic, which has got heavier with the passage of time, with the added responsibility of having a large number of delightful colonial buildings flanking them. On Nov 22, the director-general of the Karachi Development Authority (KDA) Masood Nabir Noor at a divisional council meeting disclosed a plan to widen McLeod and Bunder Roads by 40ft. He termed it a ‘slow and steady’ scheme. However, it was only possible when buildings on all sides were reconstructed at a 20ft distance from the roads, he added. Now it is something which conservationists would have a big issue with, as the word ‘reconstruction’ entails different connotations. Perhaps this is the reason why the plan was not implemented, at least the way it was envisaged.

That week, the Central Minister for Health Education, Labour and Social Welfare, Kazi Anwarul Haque was in town. On Nov 25, he inaugurated the All Pakistan Health Education Workshop organised by the National Health Education Committee at Hotel Metropole. The minister was of the opinion that health education in the country was a colossal task. (That’s true, a case in point being the ongoing polio vaccination drive.) Informing him on the objectives of the workshop, the chairperson of the committee, Begum Nusrat Bhutto, said it was to teach the people the basic principles of health and hygiene.

The next day, Nov 26, Kazi Anwarul Haque was at the University of Karachi where he opened a modern language laboratory, an initiative taken by the university in order to provide its students the requisite facilities to learn modern languages. He appreciated the setting up of the lab and hoped it would soon expand into a well-organised multilingual centre. Well, as Ernest Hemingway says, it’s silly not to hope.

This was the time when Karachi University had almost become synonymous with its Vice Chancellor Dr I.H. Qureshi who had done a lot for its development, making it one of the country’s foremost institutions. Unfortunately, on Nov 23, Dr Qureshi’s wife, Zaiba, passed away after a prolonged illness. She was 55.

Published in Dawn, November 23rd, 2015