As far as choosing how to live, Lahoris remain vertically challenged. Flats are not a preferred option. The mentality is reflected by the maxim: “there is no ownership of the roof or the ground.” As the city spreads uncontrollably in all directions and real-estate prices move beyond the reach of most, maybe it is time to consider the high rise option. Yet, to be fair there is some movement towards upscale apartments in Defence and Gulberg but these are mostly a hybrid of commercial, office and residential developments: malls with food courts in the guise of housing.

The government’s promise of five million affordable housing units would also be much simplified if the vertical option was chosen. As to the land consider the fact that in Lahore alone, there were around 700 illegal housing societies. Is there any reason for not utilising the land belonging to these societies for building high-rises? A good example of this would be the LDA Avenue on Raiwind Road. This society spans a huge area but has been mostly lying vacant for years.

Targeted apartment blocks near industrial zones and other employment hubs also need to be considered. These would not only be beneficial for the workers but also free up a lot of load, like traffic, from the city’s infrastructure. Going a step further, a possible public-private partnership arrangement could be sought from industrialists, for their workers. It would make sense for them since they would be acquiring an asset, with cash flows from rental income, while the government provides the land and scrutinises the project.

It is that time of the year: the sun is finally losing its ascendancy. Its early morning light filtering through the windows, now lays its soothing hand instead of a burning rebuke. The floss silk trees, also locally referred to the Buddha tree, are laden with glorious blossoms, mostly pink. Variant of the Cassia tree and bushes, flash yellow flowers, contrasting attractively with the green background, a reminder of the colours of summer past. Jackets and sweaters are unpacked and people acquire a more civilised veneer.

Unlike colder climes where summer is the festive time, in our part of the world winter is where the festivities are. The turn of the season was brought home through an invitation by a relative over the weekend for a barbeque. Crossing the house to the back lawn, lo and behold a bonafide bonfire roaring in all its glory was spotted. After dinner, as jackets were donned and shawls wrapped, people started inching towards the fire. The warmth was tantalizing and its appearance hypnotic. The best part of the evening -people conversed.

Finally to the flyover, more of a bridge, really due to its scale, next to the Shaukat Khanum hospital is now open. While excellent from a traffic perspective in removing a major bottleneck, the road leading up to the flyover and getting-off it, needs to be leveled. Currently there are three or four levels new roads, much like a ziggurat, which needs to be surmounted.

Talking of things changing and development, perhaps the government could look at an alternate model of infrastructure development. The parties responsible for these bottlenecks, in this instance a large private university, various commercial entities and of course, the ever-present housing societies need to bear some portion of the expense. Here one would think that this should have been done at the approval stage by various municipal authorities but as is the case here the machinery can be easily greased.

As a case in point, take the recent unearthing of Rs330 million in cash, that’s right cash, found in a grade-16 former government officer’s house. The stash consisted of Pakistani and foreign currency and prize bonds. There are also several properties in the suspect’s name. Who says that the government is a poor paymaster and one cannot, through its patronage, indulge in some high living?— AM Lahori (AmLahori@gmail.com)

Published in Dawn, November 12th, 2018