THE City Nazim of Karachi has announced the development of 26 new flyover projects as a solution to impending traffic jams. He and his colleagues are of the view that by creating grade separated intersections, traffic problems will be solved. Interestingly, in yet another claim, the partial revival of Karachi Circular Railways has been widely propagated as the final solution of commuters’ woes. It appears that the understanding of decision makers has been completely flawed since they have hardly taken stock of the gravity of situation with its multifarious dimensions. Regarding traffic and transportation, several research studies have given rise to a sizable knowledge base that can guide the decision makers, if they are willing to subscribe to ‘informed decision making without prejudice’.
Exponentially rising number of automobiles, incongruent and insufficient road space, focused convergence of traffic towards the city centre (mainly Saddar/Karachi South), unchecked movement of goods traffic through residential neighbourhoods, limited opportunities of public transit options, poor level of service and inappropriately designed mega projects are few conclusions that have evolved from the ongoing research studies on this issue.
Since decision-makers at the city and provincial level tend to get overwhelmed by the immediate but extremely limited outcomes of a few projects at hand, they do not respond to the more pressing of the problems which are becoming complex with each passing day. There is an urgent need for the rationalisation of decision making approach without any further delay, and several matters require a thorough consideration.
In urban affairs, ad hocism is applied to the hilt. Generally , the city is being managed through a project-based approach against a rational plan based alternative. This means that the decision-makers review the hoard of project proposals in front of them. They make random choices which are governed usually by factors such as convenience of execution, high visibility of the projects and donor assistance of different types.
These factors do not have an iota of link between the explicitly obvious urban needs. The so-called new projects are launched with very generalized and even non-scientific basis for their justification. For instance, the impact analysis of various flyover projects has not been undertaken so far. This is a primary tool that can help justify (or otherwise) the suitability of grade separated crossings in the city.
There happens to be no overall vision for the development, growth and management of the city. In the normal circumstances, the urban master plan delineates the overall vision, guidelines and tools for development and management of the city. This country has a few examples which can be cited as reference. Capital city of Islamabad was laid down from the scratch according to an elaborate and articulate urban master plan. The concepts, philosophies and guidelines of the said plan provided the overall framework for development. The expansion and development of the city followed these prescriptions to a considerable extent.
In Karachi, there have been several attempts of preparing the master plans but all of them fell short of the actual extent of need. A mater plan is vital because it provides the broad reference to any project or programme that may be launched. Whether a flyover or the creation of a bus terminal, the relative validity can be verified by citing it against a master plan in the overall respect. It lends the much important logic to justify any change that a project may create as an aftermath.
Decision-making pattern for Karachi portrays an increasingly personalized approach. Instead of institutions, personalities are entrusted to take decisions which are extremely complex and difficult to be handled. Presidents’ package, prime minister’s programme or the likes keep surfacing up. These bundle of promises, at certain ends, do not even include the projects that would otherwise be useful in addressing the common problems in the city.
For instance, the city is in desperate need of a sanitary landfill site. Garbage is being dumped in an open manner without any safety criteria. Solid waste management studies undertaken since early 1990s have repeatedly pointed out towards its prime importance. However since a landfill site is probably a non-glamorous project which may not generate populist opportunities for celebration, it is not assigned any priority.
Waste water treatment plants are urgently needed at the mouths of over a dozen open drains (nullahs) that are discharging almost the entire city sewage into the sea without any treatment. It is causing an enormous damage to the marine life. Besides, through sea food, the hazardous impurities get into the food chain of citizens causing even greater damages. Existing treatment plants are dysfunctional because they do not receive even half of the sewage due to inappropriate route planning.
The city is desperately in need of truck and bus terminal spaces to allow the proper parking and maintenance of public and goods carrier vehicles. More than 600 inter-city buses enter the busy corridors of the city without any justification. At least three intercity terminal spaces are needed to facilitate the inter-city traffic. Feeder connections can link up to the terminal spaces without bothering the large buses/trucks to jam the existing roads. Such hazardous activities that cause unwanted generation of traffic also need to be re-located.
Inner city whole sale markets based on chemicals, metals and grain trade must be shifted along major high way links. Serious planning is needed to develop a series of ring roads to de-congest the roads. It must be remembered with caution that producing glossy automobiles alone will not solve the traffic problem. The solution lies in careful planning and development of new link roads, maintenance of existing roads and rational planning of routes of public transport.
Land use control is another pressing issue. Instead of scientific organization, land use management is arbitrarily decided. City Government changed the status of about 19 main arteries of the city without bothering to analyse the repercussions. Since commercial uses are likely to increase taxation to some extent, it became the single compelling reason to take this most inappropriate decision. Expansion in traffic volumes, rise in load in urban infrastructure and over concentration of population in one strip zone were factors not considered while framing this decision.
Whimsical decision making related to urban affairs will give rise to more problems. It will be in the larger interest of the city to create a viable and strong planning agency to evolve a master plan without delay. Besides public monitoring of development and management affairs must be properly enforced. Provisions for monitoring are amply kept in the existing local government set-up. What it requires is an honest and hindrance-free approach to implementation.