CLOSED SCHOOL: The government keeps saying it is making sincere efforts to promote education and bring out-of-school children into the system, but it ignores the voices of villagers to make the closed Dilo Daro Primary School functional again. Education leads people towards the path of peace, progress and prosperity, and equips the population with the key weapon of consciousness. Depriving future generations of their basic right to education guaranteed by the Constitution is a crime. How can we increase our literacy rate when our schools are closed?

Azhar Azad Mughal
Shikarpur

WATER CRISIS: The acute shortage of water in Buner calls for serious national attention. Springs in the mountainous areas are drying up, forcing residents, particularly women and children, to trek long distances in search of water, thereby exacerbating their socioeconomic difficulties. However, one of the most worrisome causes of the crisis is the sheer felling of trees that require many decades to grow. The authorities must enforce forest protection laws, spread the concept of sustainable land use, and initiate massive re-vegetation campaigns. Of equal significance is spreading awareness among the population regarding the effect of forest clearance and water mismanagement on the lives of the people.

Abdur Rahim
Buner

WEAK SYSTEMS: The judicial system and the urban planning machinery fail to prioritise the common man. Cases remain pending for years, sometimes decades, forcing people to lose faith in the system. Broken roads, open drains and constant traffic jams make daily life miserable. When the poor cannot access justice, when their homes and lands are taken over in the name of development, and when their voices are ignored, a city slowly loses its moral foundation. Karachi does not need more roads alone; it needs accountability and a judicial system that treats every citizen equally. Until justice becomes accessible to the poor, true development will remain an illusion.

Sehrish Sarwar
Karachi

Published in Dawn, March 11th, 2026