You Quitter
Tuesday, 31 March 2009
The Caliph Haroon ur Rashid was addicted to eating gravel which started destroying his health. He wanted to quit the habit but could not, despite sincere efforts by every one – subordinates, aids, practitioners, mystics. Nothing worked.
A non resident came to capital and wanted to see the Caliph. He was having a unique prescription to help give up the habit and wanted to tell the Caliph. The meeting was arranged promptly. After introduction and preliminaries, the Caliph asked for the treatment.
“I would like to announce the remedy tomorrow in the court so that every one else can also benefit,” he wished. The Caliph agreed.
Next day the man stood up and loudly announced, “O Caliph of the Muslims, Allah showers his blessing upon you, where is your determination which makes you steadfast in the battle fields, which helps you decide important issues. Listening this, the Caliph smiled and the man went back to his seat.
The Caliph saw the point and left the harmful dependency.
A non resident came to capital and wanted to see the Caliph. He was having a unique prescription to help give up the habit and wanted to tell the Caliph. The meeting was arranged promptly. After introduction and preliminaries, the Caliph asked for the treatment.
“I would like to announce the remedy tomorrow in the court so that every one else can also benefit,” he wished. The Caliph agreed.
Next day the man stood up and loudly announced, “O Caliph of the Muslims, Allah showers his blessing upon you, where is your determination which makes you steadfast in the battle fields, which helps you decide important issues. Listening this, the Caliph smiled and the man went back to his seat.
The Caliph saw the point and left the harmful dependency.
posted by S A J Shirazi @ Tuesday, March 31, 2009,
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My Afghan Impressions
My earlier memories of Afghan people are that of hardworking and rugged people who used to come down from Afghan hills to make a living in width and breadth of Pakistan. I used to see them making mud walls, cutting timber and or working in the transport industry; as drivers mostly. I used to see them as a practicing Muslim and very very peaceful. I even remember having “Kurut Curry” with them in the camp they had built near Pashin in Baluchistan.
What I see (and hear) now is so very different from the impression I had. What has happened to those peaceful and hardworking people?
Labels: People
posted by S A J Shirazi @ Tuesday, March 31, 2009,
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Happening Now
Monday, 30 March 2009
An armed group is holed up in a police academy in Lahore (Manawan Police Training School) after attacking it with grenades and rifles.
posted by S A J Shirazi @ Monday, March 30, 2009,
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Who Was Architect of the New US Strategy?
Saturday, 28 March 2009
Yesterday, President Obama unveiled his new Afghanistan strategy to the world, a plan to bolster the 17,000 US troops scheduled to join the fight with an additional 4,000 noncombat advisers. But how did he come to his decision? According to The New York Times, Obama's thinking process was as advertised during the campaign—he first consulted with Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, who passed on commanders' requests for a long-term increase of combat troops and billions in new spending to bolster Afghanistan's own security forces. But Vice President Joe Biden cautioned against sinking into a possible quagmire and questioned whether more far reaching plans could make it past Congress. He also influenced Obama with his on-the-ground reporting from a recent visit, where he warned that "if you asked 10 people on the ground what American objectives were, he would get 10 different answers." Obama responded by narrowing American goals from broad nation building to defeating Al Qaeda first and foremost.
Read it at The New York Times
posted by S A J Shirazi @ Saturday, March 28, 2009,
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Your Energy Consumption
Thursday, 26 March 2009
Two main environmental issues in the world today are global climate changes and local or regional air pollution. Both are results of energy consumption all over the world.
Responses to the energy usages are important to the entire planet and its inhabitants. Current and future policies and regulations designed to limit the emissions of airborne pollutants, where ever they are in place, are likely to affect the composition and growth of global energy use.
Mobile (transport) and stationary energy (industry) consumption have resulted in increasingly stringent regulation of air pollutants such as lead, sulfur oxides, nitrogen oxides and volatile organic compounds deteriorating the environmental and air quality in the process.
What is more, given the expectations of economic growth every where in the world and growing dependence on fossil energy, global carbon dioxide emissions are also expected to grow more rapidly in future than they did any time during the past. A projected increase in fossil fuel consumption, particularly in developing countries like ours, is largely responsible for the expectation of fast-paced increase in carbon dioxide emissions.
Harmful emissions to the air come from factories, vehicle exhausts and from multiple industrial activities. These emissions can impact locally, or can affect the environment at large distances from their source. Which is why emissions any where have a significant impact on the global environment?
It is for the first time that economic growth rates and population growth in the developing world are likely to be higher than in the industrialized world.
This accompanied with the rising standards of living and increase in energy intensive industries, the developing nations are going to account for the largest share of the projected increase in world energy use.
As per the Environmental Agency report, “Carbon dioxide emissions are expected to rise after 2005 despite the use of more advanced technology and abatement equipment. Consumption of fossil fuels is likely to increase with increasing energy demands and decreased use of nuclear power for electricity production.”
Some of the developing countries around the world are alive to the situation and have already enacted policies aimed at protecting the environment. Many others are still thinking to take the necessary steps in this direction. Our is an energy deficient country and relies for its energy needs on a variety of traditional and commercial sources whereas the laws are either not there or have not been implemented properly.
Pakistan is a developing country only entering in its industrialization stage. With economic development, population growth and higher living standards, the amount of primary energy consumed will almost undoubtedly increase in the future, as will the resultant carbon emissions. These absolute increases and shifts in energy mix will occur despite continued technological improvements and reductions in energy intensity.
Environmental analysts and watchers suggest that one of Pakistan’s main priorities must be developing and utilizing technologies to solve the major environmental challenges the country is currently facing and will face in the future. These efforts should be focused on technologies that treat wastewater, prevent air pollution and improve environmental monitoring systems. It may seem costly but that is the only sustainable solution in the long run.
Good news is that this has started happening, though one would like to see more concern in this regards.
Responses to the energy usages are important to the entire planet and its inhabitants. Current and future policies and regulations designed to limit the emissions of airborne pollutants, where ever they are in place, are likely to affect the composition and growth of global energy use.
Mobile (transport) and stationary energy (industry) consumption have resulted in increasingly stringent regulation of air pollutants such as lead, sulfur oxides, nitrogen oxides and volatile organic compounds deteriorating the environmental and air quality in the process.
What is more, given the expectations of economic growth every where in the world and growing dependence on fossil energy, global carbon dioxide emissions are also expected to grow more rapidly in future than they did any time during the past. A projected increase in fossil fuel consumption, particularly in developing countries like ours, is largely responsible for the expectation of fast-paced increase in carbon dioxide emissions.
Harmful emissions to the air come from factories, vehicle exhausts and from multiple industrial activities. These emissions can impact locally, or can affect the environment at large distances from their source. Which is why emissions any where have a significant impact on the global environment?
It is for the first time that economic growth rates and population growth in the developing world are likely to be higher than in the industrialized world.
This accompanied with the rising standards of living and increase in energy intensive industries, the developing nations are going to account for the largest share of the projected increase in world energy use.
As per the Environmental Agency report, “Carbon dioxide emissions are expected to rise after 2005 despite the use of more advanced technology and abatement equipment. Consumption of fossil fuels is likely to increase with increasing energy demands and decreased use of nuclear power for electricity production.”
Some of the developing countries around the world are alive to the situation and have already enacted policies aimed at protecting the environment. Many others are still thinking to take the necessary steps in this direction. Our is an energy deficient country and relies for its energy needs on a variety of traditional and commercial sources whereas the laws are either not there or have not been implemented properly.
Pakistan is a developing country only entering in its industrialization stage. With economic development, population growth and higher living standards, the amount of primary energy consumed will almost undoubtedly increase in the future, as will the resultant carbon emissions. These absolute increases and shifts in energy mix will occur despite continued technological improvements and reductions in energy intensity.
Environmental analysts and watchers suggest that one of Pakistan’s main priorities must be developing and utilizing technologies to solve the major environmental challenges the country is currently facing and will face in the future. These efforts should be focused on technologies that treat wastewater, prevent air pollution and improve environmental monitoring systems. It may seem costly but that is the only sustainable solution in the long run.
Good news is that this has started happening, though one would like to see more concern in this regards.
Labels: Environment
posted by S A J Shirazi @ Thursday, March 26, 2009,
, links to this post
Federal-B-Area, Karachi
Owais Mughal
This is the fourth part of our series on best planned neighborhoods of Pakistan. We have so far covered Eight bazaars of Faisalabad, North Nazimabad, Karachi and Model Town, Lahore in this series. Today we are going back to Karachi and will give you an introduction of Federal-B-Area which is definitely among the best planned localities of Pakistan.
Brief History
The town planning of Federal-B-Area dates back to 1950s when Karachi was still the capital of Pakistan and many new neighborhoods were getting built up to house the employees of the Federal Governemnt. The present day neighborhoods of North Nazimabad, Federal Capital (FC) Area and Federal-B-Area were all part of this vision to give Karachi a well planned capital city infrastructure. While North Nazimabad was laid out by Italian town planners, I am unable to research who did the planning for Federal-B-Area. Reader’s help is sought here.
Federal-B-Area, Mansoora and Gulberg Town
Over the years Federal-B-Area has changed a few names depending on which local government is in power but the original name of Federal-B-Area still thrives. In 1983 after a religious party’s victory in local body elections, Federal-B-Area was renamed as ‘Mansoora’ and North Nazimabad was renamed as ‘Taimuria’. These names however, didn’t become very popular. Today the name ‘Mansoora’ has become relegated to a cricket ground only in Federal-B-Area’s block 10 where as ‘Taimuria’ has been relegated to the name of North Nazimabad’s police station only.
During Pervaiz Musharraf’s tenure, Federal-B-Area neighborhood was renamed again and it became Gulberg Town, but the orginial name still remains popular and is still written as the de-facto address on postal mail.
Following is Federal-B-Area’s map taken from Karachi City Government’s website where it is shown as Gulberg Town and divided into 8 Union Councils.
I recently came across an article by Osman Samiuddin at cricinfo.com where he has written about Federal-B-Area in following words:
Federal B Area - was originally designed for those entrusted with the running of Pakistan, in the days when Karachi was the capital. The country is not run from here anymore, but the roads are wide, the houses old, and here a neighbourhood is still a neighbourhood, not a random collection of houses. It is one of Karachi’s many beating hearts.
If you drive through Federal-B-Area today, you may not be very impressed at first sight. It is a locality which has seen its glory days. The locality is now on its way to what is called ‘Urban Decay’ in the town planning terms. Houses and apartments built 30 years ago are crumbling. Many apartment buildings are in dire needs of repairs. During monsoon months of strong sea-breeze the situation is like this sher:
itna na tez chal ke hil jaayen bam-o-dar
ae sar-phiri hawa mein ‘kiraaye’ ke ghar mein hooN
Federal-B-Area is not a posh locality either and street crime is no less than other areas of the city “BUT” all these signs of ‘Urban Decay’ are our collective failure of civics and the society as a whole.
The reason we have chosen Federal-B-Area to be featured here is because of its well-planned infrastructure and town planning for which one has to see beyond the immediate first impression of an old locality to appreciate it.
Boundaries of Federal-B-Area:
North of Federal-B-Area is the locality of North Nazimabad with ‘Gujjar Nullah’ separating the two. Western boundary of Federal-B-Area is formed by the Railway Track of Karachi Circular Railway . East of Federal-B-Area is Gadap Town and South of Federal-B-Area is the locality of Gulshan-i-Iqbal with Lyari Expressway and Lyari river separating the two.
Before we go further I want to point out the ratio of free space to residential areas in the above image. There are more than 40 free spaces or grounds within 10 square kilometer area of Federal-B-Area. This feature makes Federal-B-Area the candidate of best planned localities.
Sub-Divisions in Federal-B-Area:
Federal-B-Area is divided into 21 blocks (sub-zones). These are numbered 1 through 21, unlike North Nazimabad where blocks are numbered alphabetically from A through T. The 21 blocks of Federal-B-Area are divided into plots of various sizes wihch have following categories:
R - 120 sq yards,
A - 240 sq yards
B - 400 sq yards,
C - 600 sq yards,
D - 1000 sq yards
North Nazimabad, Karachi also follows the above plot categories with an additional category of F - 2000 sq yds plots.
Twenty of federal-B-Area blocks are residential and one is Industrial. However, with the passage of time, just as it has happened to many other once grand localities of the city, people have started turning residential plots into more and more commercial enterprises. I’ve noticed that as cities grow older, people tend to move to outer suburbs and older localities start turning into commercial zones, godowns or high rises.
Shahrah-i-Pakistan through Federal-B-Area:
Another aspect of Federal-B-Area’s geography is that Shahrah-i-Pakistan runs through it. This main artery of the city roughly bisects Federal-B-Area into two zones. The importance of Shahrah-i-Pakistan cannot be over looked. It is the same road which runs from Karachi Port to all the way to Landi Kotal in NWFP.
North of Federal-B-Area (at Sohrab Goth chowrangi), Shahrah-e-Pakistan becomes the super highway which is scheduled to be upgraded as a 6 -lane Motorway (M9). At Hyderabad bypass, Super Highway meets the trans-Pakistan highway N5. Before Karachi Northern bypass (M10) was built, Shahrah-i-Pakistan through Federal-B-Area used to carry more than 75% of Pakistan’s road cargo from Karachi port to upcountry.
Personal Note:
By the way guys, I’ve spent 70% of my life in Federal-B-Area, therefore there is a natural bias in telling all the good stories about it. For me federal-B-area is like:
teray koochay is bahaane mujhe din se raat karna
kabhi is se baat karna kabhi os se baat karna
However, I want to keep this post authentic therefore I’ll separate my personal views from facts and figures and wirte them under separate headings below.
Federal-B-Area Block by Block:
Lets visit all the individual blocks of Federal-B-Area
Blocks 1 and 2:
Both blocks are located on the south side of Shahrah-i-Pakistan. These blocks border the Liaquatabad area and are separated from it by the Karachi Circular Railway Track.
Bazaar-e-Faisal is the main commercial center of Block 2. Karachi’s famous Government Delhi Boys Science College is also located in block 2.
Block 3:
It is also located on the South side of Shahrah-i-Pakistan. This is a very diverse area. Several languages are spoken here. Aga Khan community has a big presence in Block 3 besides Bantwa Memons, Okhai Memons, Katchi Memons, people with roots from Junagarh state etc. Meena bazaar is the main commercial center of Block 3.
Personal: I have played lots of cricket on the grounds of Block 3. The famous Miandad Sports shop is also located here. One can find Pakistan’s ex-first class Cricketer Anwar Miandad selling cricket gear here. In early days of this shop Javed Miandad also used to come here once in a while and used to cause traffic jam in the area.
Besides Miandad Sports, another place to frequent in Block 3 is ‘United Bakery’ which makes the best gulab-jaman in Pakistan (note: this sentence appears under my personal views section)
Block 4:
Block 4 is located on north side of Shahrah-i-Pakistan. A lot of residential plots in Block 4 are fast changing into commercial businesses like schools and hospitals. Look at the satellite image of Block 4 below and one can appreciate the symmetry as well as the ratio of free space to residential space.
Personal: A good part of my life has been spent playing cricket in the ground and the streets shown in the satellite image above. This famous event of my life also happened on this very same ground located in Block 4. I have also written about several other events on these pages which happened in Block 4. (See here, here and here)
Blocks 5 and 6:
Both of these blocks are located North of Shahrah-i-Pakistan. Block 5 borders North Nazimabad with ‘Gujjar nullah’ in between.
Block 6 used to have a famous cricket ground by the name of ‘Gulfishan’. It is under the occupation of Pakistan Rangers for the past 17 years now. Just like Block 4, it is also fast changing into a commercial zone. The photo below shows the satellite image of Block 6.
Blocks 4, 5 and 6 combined make up one union council of Gulberg town called Aisha Manzil Union Council.
Block 7:
It is located on South side of Shahrah-i-Pakistan. Block 7 is famous for Sultan Mohammad Shah Aga Khan school and college as well as the tableeghi jamaat’s Madani Masjid.
Personal: The photo below shows the image of Sultan Mohammad Shah Aga Khan school located in Block 7. Spread across 21 acres, it is also the largest school of karachi. It houses a Cricket ground, a soccer ground and a hockey ground besides several shaded areas. This is also the school where I spent 10 years of my life. As with all other blocks of Federal-B-Area, a good part of my school days and hot summer afternoons from Grade V to Grade X were spent in the sports grounds of my school shown in the photo below. A cement cricket pitch is visible in the image below. It was built when I was in Grade X - 1987. It was a historic moment for our school otherwise we used to play on a turf wicket which we had to roll daily using a hand-roller pulled and pushed by atleast 5 guys together.
Block 8:
It is located on South side of Shahrah-i-Pakistan. It is famous for Jinnah ground. Karachi City government has plans to build a 140 ft tall fountain in Jinnah ground which is also close to the HQ of ruling part in Karachi in Block 8 of Federal-B-Area.
Block 9:
Block 9 is famous for Dastagir Housing Society. It is located on south side of Shahrah-i-Pakistan. Some of us may remember the famous PTV ad of 80s calling for “gas ka ilaaj—Farzana Dawakhana Dastagir # 9″. Yes, Farzana Dawakhan is located here.
Sangam Sports Cricket ground is located in Block 9. The ground is named after a cricket club called Sangam Sports which used to play here years ago.
Federal-B-Area’s main post office (Postal Code 75950) is located in Block 9.
Block 10, 11, 12 and 13:
All these blocks are located on north side of Shahrah-i-Pakistan. Famous landmark in Block 10 is Mansoora Cricket Ground.
And Shadab Soccer Ground in Block 11. Shadab used to be a cricket ground but lately it has been turned into a soccer ground.
Block 13 has Federal-B-Area’s police station called ‘Gulberg Police Station’.
Blocks 11, 12 and 13 combined are also called Gulberg.
Before moving to Lahore, Javed Miandad had a residence in Block 12. Following image shows the views of Blocks 10, 11, 12 and 13.
Blocks 14 and 15
All these blocks are located on East side of Shahrah-i-Pakistan. Main landmarks in Block 15 are the famous T-Ground as well as the UBL Sports Complex. The cricket ground of UBL Sports complex is a first class Cricket venue. The comples and also includes an astro-turf hockey Ground and a track-and-Field arena as seen in the image below.
Personal: Block 14 is famous for a business called ‘Javed nihari’ - makes the best nihari in town, in my opinion. During school days I’ve spent several study nights eating nihari and drinking coke at Javed’s nihari joint. Block 14 also has several ’sheermaal’ and ‘taftaan’ stores along the main road. I love eating ’sheermaal’ instead of ‘paraatha’. After I got my motorcycle license, I used to frequent these places whenever hungry and used to eat 1 or 2 ’sheermaal’ while riding the motorcylce.
Block 16:
Block 16 is famous for Karachi Medical and Dental College. Block 16 has several aparmtent blocks especially along the main roads. One of them called Yousuf Plaza located in Block 16, is one of the largest apartment complexes in Pakistan.
Personal: My parents first home in Karachi was in Block 16. We moved out when I was 5 (1976). I have faint memories of Block 16 from that early age. I do remember the vast expanse of the ground shown in the image below. It appeared even larger in my childhood memories. I also have a memory of seeing a 4-story building crash in 1975-76. It was later rebuilt. It is the first structure at bottom right, just above the red polygon corner of image below.
Blocks 17 and 18:
All these blocks are located on north side of Shahrah-i-Pakistan. Block 17 is also called ‘Samanabad’. It is famous for Pak-Flag Hockey Ground located here. Block 18 area is also called ‘Ancholi’.
Personal: For couple of years in my teenage I got attracted to playing hockey and played at club level. Pak Flag hockey Ground in block 17 used to be one of best Hockey Grounds in the area. I got to play in one game at Pak Flag and I remember being very proud to be able to play at this ground.
teray koochay mein yooN khaRa hooN
jaisay hockey ka goal-keeper hooN
by Zameer jafri
Blocks 19 and 20:
Block 19 and portions of Block 20 are called ‘Al Noor’ society and both blocks are located north of Shahrah-i-Pakistan.
Personal: Once again I played lots of cricket on Alnoor Gymkhana ground. In block 20, there used to be a ‘Zafar Library’ next to the cricket ground. Every now and then a sixer used to land on Zafar Library’s roof and it was hard to retrieve ball from there. Whenever a batsman used to miss hitting a short-pitch ball, we used to say ‘he missed a ‘Zafar library waali ball’ which means he missed a golden opportunity to hit a six. - just a random thought that came to my mind from block 20. Sometimes batsmen used to try to hit balls in certain homes. Why? A hint should come from this sher of Nazeer Akbarabadi
muddat se ho raha hai jin ka makaaN puraana
uth ke hai un ko meenay mein har aan chat par jaana
Federal-B-Area’s Postal Code: 75950
Population: According to 1998 census, the population of Federal-B-Area was 453490.
Karachi Mass Transit Plan and Federal-B-Area
Karachi’s Mass transit Plan (KMTP) had an elevated light train planned for Federal-B-Area which was to run from Sohrab Goth to Merewether Tower with Sohrab Goth-Karimabad portion falling in Federal-B-Area.
My personal sense is that KMTP is now practically dead as current City Government has come up with their own Karachi 2020 Vision and they are concentrating on several Signal Free Corridors (2 East-West Corridors are built and 1 North-South corridor is under construction).
Federal-B-Area has also gained on all this infrastructure development and is within reach of atleast 2 Signal Free corridors and Lyari Expressway.
Telephone Exchange: Federal-B-Area has a dedicated land line Digital Telephone Exchange under PTCL. The telephone area code for Federal-B-Area exchange (called Azizabad Exchange) is 636.
Closing Remarks:
I’ll put Federal-B-Area as second to only North Nazimabad in town planning features in Karachi. On Pakistan level, I’ll place it several localities down the line behind Islamabad sectors, Lahore’s Model Town and a few cantonments. In a big picture, it is definitely in one of the top town planning examples of Pakistan.
This is the fourth part of our series on best planned neighborhoods of Pakistan. We have so far covered Eight bazaars of Faisalabad, North Nazimabad, Karachi and Model Town, Lahore in this series. Today we are going back to Karachi and will give you an introduction of Federal-B-Area which is definitely among the best planned localities of Pakistan.
Brief History
The town planning of Federal-B-Area dates back to 1950s when Karachi was still the capital of Pakistan and many new neighborhoods were getting built up to house the employees of the Federal Governemnt. The present day neighborhoods of North Nazimabad, Federal Capital (FC) Area and Federal-B-Area were all part of this vision to give Karachi a well planned capital city infrastructure. While North Nazimabad was laid out by Italian town planners, I am unable to research who did the planning for Federal-B-Area. Reader’s help is sought here.
Federal-B-Area, Mansoora and Gulberg Town
Over the years Federal-B-Area has changed a few names depending on which local government is in power but the original name of Federal-B-Area still thrives. In 1983 after a religious party’s victory in local body elections, Federal-B-Area was renamed as ‘Mansoora’ and North Nazimabad was renamed as ‘Taimuria’. These names however, didn’t become very popular. Today the name ‘Mansoora’ has become relegated to a cricket ground only in Federal-B-Area’s block 10 where as ‘Taimuria’ has been relegated to the name of North Nazimabad’s police station only.
During Pervaiz Musharraf’s tenure, Federal-B-Area neighborhood was renamed again and it became Gulberg Town, but the orginial name still remains popular and is still written as the de-facto address on postal mail.
Following is Federal-B-Area’s map taken from Karachi City Government’s website where it is shown as Gulberg Town and divided into 8 Union Councils.
I recently came across an article by Osman Samiuddin at cricinfo.com where he has written about Federal-B-Area in following words:
Federal B Area - was originally designed for those entrusted with the running of Pakistan, in the days when Karachi was the capital. The country is not run from here anymore, but the roads are wide, the houses old, and here a neighbourhood is still a neighbourhood, not a random collection of houses. It is one of Karachi’s many beating hearts.
If you drive through Federal-B-Area today, you may not be very impressed at first sight. It is a locality which has seen its glory days. The locality is now on its way to what is called ‘Urban Decay’ in the town planning terms. Houses and apartments built 30 years ago are crumbling. Many apartment buildings are in dire needs of repairs. During monsoon months of strong sea-breeze the situation is like this sher:
itna na tez chal ke hil jaayen bam-o-dar
ae sar-phiri hawa mein ‘kiraaye’ ke ghar mein hooN
Federal-B-Area is not a posh locality either and street crime is no less than other areas of the city “BUT” all these signs of ‘Urban Decay’ are our collective failure of civics and the society as a whole.
The reason we have chosen Federal-B-Area to be featured here is because of its well-planned infrastructure and town planning for which one has to see beyond the immediate first impression of an old locality to appreciate it.
Boundaries of Federal-B-Area:
North of Federal-B-Area is the locality of North Nazimabad with ‘Gujjar Nullah’ separating the two. Western boundary of Federal-B-Area is formed by the Railway Track of Karachi Circular Railway . East of Federal-B-Area is Gadap Town and South of Federal-B-Area is the locality of Gulshan-i-Iqbal with Lyari Expressway and Lyari river separating the two.
Before we go further I want to point out the ratio of free space to residential areas in the above image. There are more than 40 free spaces or grounds within 10 square kilometer area of Federal-B-Area. This feature makes Federal-B-Area the candidate of best planned localities.
Sub-Divisions in Federal-B-Area:
Federal-B-Area is divided into 21 blocks (sub-zones). These are numbered 1 through 21, unlike North Nazimabad where blocks are numbered alphabetically from A through T. The 21 blocks of Federal-B-Area are divided into plots of various sizes wihch have following categories:
R - 120 sq yards,
A - 240 sq yards
B - 400 sq yards,
C - 600 sq yards,
D - 1000 sq yards
North Nazimabad, Karachi also follows the above plot categories with an additional category of F - 2000 sq yds plots.
Twenty of federal-B-Area blocks are residential and one is Industrial. However, with the passage of time, just as it has happened to many other once grand localities of the city, people have started turning residential plots into more and more commercial enterprises. I’ve noticed that as cities grow older, people tend to move to outer suburbs and older localities start turning into commercial zones, godowns or high rises.
Shahrah-i-Pakistan through Federal-B-Area:
Another aspect of Federal-B-Area’s geography is that Shahrah-i-Pakistan runs through it. This main artery of the city roughly bisects Federal-B-Area into two zones. The importance of Shahrah-i-Pakistan cannot be over looked. It is the same road which runs from Karachi Port to all the way to Landi Kotal in NWFP.
North of Federal-B-Area (at Sohrab Goth chowrangi), Shahrah-e-Pakistan becomes the super highway which is scheduled to be upgraded as a 6 -lane Motorway (M9). At Hyderabad bypass, Super Highway meets the trans-Pakistan highway N5. Before Karachi Northern bypass (M10) was built, Shahrah-i-Pakistan through Federal-B-Area used to carry more than 75% of Pakistan’s road cargo from Karachi port to upcountry.
Personal Note:
By the way guys, I’ve spent 70% of my life in Federal-B-Area, therefore there is a natural bias in telling all the good stories about it. For me federal-B-area is like:
teray koochay is bahaane mujhe din se raat karna
kabhi is se baat karna kabhi os se baat karna
However, I want to keep this post authentic therefore I’ll separate my personal views from facts and figures and wirte them under separate headings below.
Federal-B-Area Block by Block:
Lets visit all the individual blocks of Federal-B-Area
Blocks 1 and 2:
Both blocks are located on the south side of Shahrah-i-Pakistan. These blocks border the Liaquatabad area and are separated from it by the Karachi Circular Railway Track.
Bazaar-e-Faisal is the main commercial center of Block 2. Karachi’s famous Government Delhi Boys Science College is also located in block 2.
Block 3:
It is also located on the South side of Shahrah-i-Pakistan. This is a very diverse area. Several languages are spoken here. Aga Khan community has a big presence in Block 3 besides Bantwa Memons, Okhai Memons, Katchi Memons, people with roots from Junagarh state etc. Meena bazaar is the main commercial center of Block 3.
Personal: I have played lots of cricket on the grounds of Block 3. The famous Miandad Sports shop is also located here. One can find Pakistan’s ex-first class Cricketer Anwar Miandad selling cricket gear here. In early days of this shop Javed Miandad also used to come here once in a while and used to cause traffic jam in the area.
Besides Miandad Sports, another place to frequent in Block 3 is ‘United Bakery’ which makes the best gulab-jaman in Pakistan (note: this sentence appears under my personal views section)
Block 4:
Block 4 is located on north side of Shahrah-i-Pakistan. A lot of residential plots in Block 4 are fast changing into commercial businesses like schools and hospitals. Look at the satellite image of Block 4 below and one can appreciate the symmetry as well as the ratio of free space to residential space.
Personal: A good part of my life has been spent playing cricket in the ground and the streets shown in the satellite image above. This famous event of my life also happened on this very same ground located in Block 4. I have also written about several other events on these pages which happened in Block 4. (See here, here and here)
Blocks 5 and 6:
Both of these blocks are located North of Shahrah-i-Pakistan. Block 5 borders North Nazimabad with ‘Gujjar nullah’ in between.
Block 6 used to have a famous cricket ground by the name of ‘Gulfishan’. It is under the occupation of Pakistan Rangers for the past 17 years now. Just like Block 4, it is also fast changing into a commercial zone. The photo below shows the satellite image of Block 6.
Blocks 4, 5 and 6 combined make up one union council of Gulberg town called Aisha Manzil Union Council.
Block 7:
It is located on South side of Shahrah-i-Pakistan. Block 7 is famous for Sultan Mohammad Shah Aga Khan school and college as well as the tableeghi jamaat’s Madani Masjid.
Personal: The photo below shows the image of Sultan Mohammad Shah Aga Khan school located in Block 7. Spread across 21 acres, it is also the largest school of karachi. It houses a Cricket ground, a soccer ground and a hockey ground besides several shaded areas. This is also the school where I spent 10 years of my life. As with all other blocks of Federal-B-Area, a good part of my school days and hot summer afternoons from Grade V to Grade X were spent in the sports grounds of my school shown in the photo below. A cement cricket pitch is visible in the image below. It was built when I was in Grade X - 1987. It was a historic moment for our school otherwise we used to play on a turf wicket which we had to roll daily using a hand-roller pulled and pushed by atleast 5 guys together.
Block 8:
It is located on South side of Shahrah-i-Pakistan. It is famous for Jinnah ground. Karachi City government has plans to build a 140 ft tall fountain in Jinnah ground which is also close to the HQ of ruling part in Karachi in Block 8 of Federal-B-Area.
Block 9:
Block 9 is famous for Dastagir Housing Society. It is located on south side of Shahrah-i-Pakistan. Some of us may remember the famous PTV ad of 80s calling for “gas ka ilaaj—Farzana Dawakhana Dastagir # 9″. Yes, Farzana Dawakhan is located here.
Sangam Sports Cricket ground is located in Block 9. The ground is named after a cricket club called Sangam Sports which used to play here years ago.
Federal-B-Area’s main post office (Postal Code 75950) is located in Block 9.
Block 10, 11, 12 and 13:
All these blocks are located on north side of Shahrah-i-Pakistan. Famous landmark in Block 10 is Mansoora Cricket Ground.
And Shadab Soccer Ground in Block 11. Shadab used to be a cricket ground but lately it has been turned into a soccer ground.
Block 13 has Federal-B-Area’s police station called ‘Gulberg Police Station’.
Blocks 11, 12 and 13 combined are also called Gulberg.
Before moving to Lahore, Javed Miandad had a residence in Block 12. Following image shows the views of Blocks 10, 11, 12 and 13.
Blocks 14 and 15
All these blocks are located on East side of Shahrah-i-Pakistan. Main landmarks in Block 15 are the famous T-Ground as well as the UBL Sports Complex. The cricket ground of UBL Sports complex is a first class Cricket venue. The comples and also includes an astro-turf hockey Ground and a track-and-Field arena as seen in the image below.
Personal: Block 14 is famous for a business called ‘Javed nihari’ - makes the best nihari in town, in my opinion. During school days I’ve spent several study nights eating nihari and drinking coke at Javed’s nihari joint. Block 14 also has several ’sheermaal’ and ‘taftaan’ stores along the main road. I love eating ’sheermaal’ instead of ‘paraatha’. After I got my motorcycle license, I used to frequent these places whenever hungry and used to eat 1 or 2 ’sheermaal’ while riding the motorcylce.
Block 16:
Block 16 is famous for Karachi Medical and Dental College. Block 16 has several aparmtent blocks especially along the main roads. One of them called Yousuf Plaza located in Block 16, is one of the largest apartment complexes in Pakistan.
Personal: My parents first home in Karachi was in Block 16. We moved out when I was 5 (1976). I have faint memories of Block 16 from that early age. I do remember the vast expanse of the ground shown in the image below. It appeared even larger in my childhood memories. I also have a memory of seeing a 4-story building crash in 1975-76. It was later rebuilt. It is the first structure at bottom right, just above the red polygon corner of image below.
Blocks 17 and 18:
All these blocks are located on north side of Shahrah-i-Pakistan. Block 17 is also called ‘Samanabad’. It is famous for Pak-Flag Hockey Ground located here. Block 18 area is also called ‘Ancholi’.
Personal: For couple of years in my teenage I got attracted to playing hockey and played at club level. Pak Flag hockey Ground in block 17 used to be one of best Hockey Grounds in the area. I got to play in one game at Pak Flag and I remember being very proud to be able to play at this ground.
teray koochay mein yooN khaRa hooN
jaisay hockey ka goal-keeper hooN
by Zameer jafri
Blocks 19 and 20:
Block 19 and portions of Block 20 are called ‘Al Noor’ society and both blocks are located north of Shahrah-i-Pakistan.
Personal: Once again I played lots of cricket on Alnoor Gymkhana ground. In block 20, there used to be a ‘Zafar Library’ next to the cricket ground. Every now and then a sixer used to land on Zafar Library’s roof and it was hard to retrieve ball from there. Whenever a batsman used to miss hitting a short-pitch ball, we used to say ‘he missed a ‘Zafar library waali ball’ which means he missed a golden opportunity to hit a six. - just a random thought that came to my mind from block 20. Sometimes batsmen used to try to hit balls in certain homes. Why? A hint should come from this sher of Nazeer Akbarabadi
muddat se ho raha hai jin ka makaaN puraana
uth ke hai un ko meenay mein har aan chat par jaana
Federal-B-Area’s Postal Code: 75950
Population: According to 1998 census, the population of Federal-B-Area was 453490.
Karachi Mass Transit Plan and Federal-B-Area
Karachi’s Mass transit Plan (KMTP) had an elevated light train planned for Federal-B-Area which was to run from Sohrab Goth to Merewether Tower with Sohrab Goth-Karimabad portion falling in Federal-B-Area.
My personal sense is that KMTP is now practically dead as current City Government has come up with their own Karachi 2020 Vision and they are concentrating on several Signal Free Corridors (2 East-West Corridors are built and 1 North-South corridor is under construction).
Federal-B-Area has also gained on all this infrastructure development and is within reach of atleast 2 Signal Free corridors and Lyari Expressway.
Telephone Exchange: Federal-B-Area has a dedicated land line Digital Telephone Exchange under PTCL. The telephone area code for Federal-B-Area exchange (called Azizabad Exchange) is 636.
Closing Remarks:
I’ll put Federal-B-Area as second to only North Nazimabad in town planning features in Karachi. On Pakistan level, I’ll place it several localities down the line behind Islamabad sectors, Lahore’s Model Town and a few cantonments. In a big picture, it is definitely in one of the top town planning examples of Pakistan.
posted by S A J Shirazi @ Thursday, March 26, 2009,
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Men at Their Best Get Together
Wednesday, 25 March 2009
Men at their best (55 PMA Long Course Lahore Chapter) will get together on the evening of Mar 27, 2009, may be to welcome Spring in Lahore and update with each other. Thanks ZK.
Labels: Men At Their Best, PMA
posted by S A J Shirazi @ Wednesday, March 25, 2009,
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Spirit of French revolution
Sunday, 22 March 2009
Jean Jacques Rousseau was a French philosopher. His father married Rousseau’s mother only to desert her after his birth. From here started his sufferings.
He was considered a dangerous character. It is why he was hunted out form one city to another. He died un wept un mourned and unsung.
Contemporaries criticized his book The Contract Social when it was published. To them he retorted by saying that he could see the time when his book would be bounded by the skins of their coming generations.
There have been two seismic revolutions in the world: French and Russian revolutions. French revolutionaries during their struggle wrote three words on their flag – equality, liberty, love — taken form The Contract Social.
Lot many people including French King Louis IV and the Queen were guillotined during the Revolution. Their skins could have been used for binding Rousseau’s book if it were the custom.
All researchers agree that his was the mind behind the French revolution.
He was considered a dangerous character. It is why he was hunted out form one city to another. He died un wept un mourned and unsung.
Contemporaries criticized his book The Contract Social when it was published. To them he retorted by saying that he could see the time when his book would be bounded by the skins of their coming generations.
There have been two seismic revolutions in the world: French and Russian revolutions. French revolutionaries during their struggle wrote three words on their flag – equality, liberty, love — taken form The Contract Social.
Lot many people including French King Louis IV and the Queen were guillotined during the Revolution. Their skins could have been used for binding Rousseau’s book if it were the custom.
All researchers agree that his was the mind behind the French revolution.
posted by S A J Shirazi @ Sunday, March 22, 2009,
, links to this post
Iqbal Hussain Art and Women
Saturday, 21 March 2009
Pervaiz Munir Alvi
Iqbal Hussain (1950- ) is often termed as the ‘controversial artist of Pakistan’. Although he is equally masterful in painting landscape and still life, yet he is best known for his portraits–mostly portraits of women that is.
He paints his landscape in romantic hues of dusty pink and soft blue and because of that has been called “Turner/Monet of the Punjab Landscape School”. But in contrast to his style of landscape he chooses to paint his women in bright colors under full light with purposeful brush strokes. He is an impressionist and a realist at the same time. It appears as if intentionally, in his impressionism style landscapes he takes his viewers to a retreat of romantic dreams, but in his portraits in a clear opposition, he forces his viewers to see life in its stark realities.
So what is controversial about the art of Iqbal Hussain? Nothing really if you ask any art critic. An artist and his art could be escapist and realist at the same time. What makes him ‘controversial’, and that is mostly within Pakistan, are not his contrasting artistic styles but his conscious choice of female models and the way he presents them. Iqbal Hussain as a realist does not exaggerate or minimize the physical characters of his subjects like say Picasso would.
He paints his women the way they are in their real life. He just happens to show the side of life we wish not to acknowledge existing in our midst.
His fault is that he brings out in the open the ‘controversies’ that already exist within our societal norms and values; an act for which ‘respectable’ society has termed him as a ‘controversial’ artist. He is controversial because his women do not depict our perceived image of our self. We would like to think that his class of women does not exist in our Pakistan.
Because of his choice of female models, Iqbal Hussain like Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec (1864-1901) is called a “painter of prostitutes and dancing girls”.
Most of his models are the ‘professionals’ from Shahi Mahalla of Lahore whom he is either related to or he knows them personally. The famous red light district of Lahore is his Montmartre and Pigalle. His home is his Moulin Rouge.
But unlike Henri his girls are not shown in dancing forms, lifting their skirts, and exposing their legs and petticoats. Iqbal’s women are not nude or semi-naked or involved in some illicit acts as their profession might suggest. They are not even dancing suggestively or posing provocatively as they do during their work hours.
They are mostly some unknown and unremarkable women of modest looks and appearance. They are just there as they are in their real life; fully clothed stout women, sitting, squatting and with their blank eyes and resigned looks staring at the artist or simply at the empty air in front of them.
Ah, but they are the prostitutes from that ‘bazaar’ and that’s what is ‘controversial’ about Iqbal and his portraits. Iqbal’s women, unlike most respectable Pakistani women do not have their heads and bosoms covered with dopattas and chadors of ‘modesty’. They are bare footed and without the shoes of ‘respectability’. But what troubles us most in Iqbal’s women is the fact that they silently poke our conscience and raise questions about the otherwise obvious hypocrisy of our society.
They raise the questions that ‘respectable’ Pakistani society rather not to ask of it self. And that is what makes Iqbal Hussain so ‘controversial’!
Source:
Contemporary Painting in Pakistan, 1992.
By Professor Marcella Nesom Sirhandi, Ph.D.
Ferozsons, Lahore, Pakistan
Labels: Pervaiz Munir Alvi
posted by S A J Shirazi @ Saturday, March 21, 2009,
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City of Mubeshir (and Eight Bazaars)
Friday, 20 March 2009
The growth of Fasilabad has far exceeded the pace at which the city can support its inhabitants. The result is that city is facing problems in providing basic amenities to its citizens. Largely, the burden of solving them falls on municipal authorities. These problems are exacerbated once the civic authorities (and other city development agencies) do not have funds, will and expertise to do that. Inhabitants of only 100 years old city are suffering mainly due to quantifiable deficiencies.
In 1896, a new settlement was founded by Lieutenant Government Punjab, Sir James Lyall, in the area known as Sandal Bar. The plan of this habitat was prepared on the pattern of British flag by Sir Ganga Ram, a civil engineer, town planner and renowned philanthropist. The construction of eight bazaars and adjoining colonies was completed in 1902. There used to be sweet water well and an old `bargad’ tree in the centre where ghanta ghar was erected in 1918.
People of the city played an important role in Pakistan Movement. Quaid-i-Azam visited the `heart of Pakistan,’ as he called it, when annual session of Muslim league was held in the city. Over 100,000 Muslims of area welcomed the Quaid on November 17, 1942 and presented him rupees 500.00 in a reception held at Dhobi Ghat
Lyallpur, named after Sir James Lyall was initially called Pakki Mari. The name was changed to Fasilabad by General Zia ul Haq on the recommendation of a local photographer Aziz. Era of industrialization started in 1930 and Fasilabad was declared as an industrial zone in 1955. Earlier, complexion of Sandal Bar area changed with the excavation of Lower Canal originating from khanki in 1892. Presently, this `Manchester of Pakistan’ has one of the biggest and best Yarn Markets in the world. Fasilabad has grown the second biggest industrial city in the country after Karachi.
The world is becoming more urban as people are moving to cities in search of employment, educational opportunities and high standard of living. Population growth in Fasilabad has been very rapid. In 1947, the biggest of all the Kachi abadies in the country came up in the city that was later converted into Sir Syed Town and other residential colonies. Jinnah colony, Ghulam Muhammad Abad, People Colony, Afghanabad, Nazimabad and Ayub Colony came into existence in first 10-15 years after the independence. This human settlement of only 9191 people in 1901 (first census) is now home to three millions. The municipal area of the city has expanded up to 45 square Kilometres.
One of the main problems facing the city is congestion: in open spaces, public transport, housing, roads and streets. Presence of Goods Forwarding Agencies and oil tankers’ `addas’, Iron Market, Sabzi Mandi and numerous industrial units inside the city has adversely affected the cityscape. The administration has not been able to shift them out despite recommendations in Fasilabad Master Plan and complaints by the concerned citizens. Presence of these agencies in the city, particularly in the areas from Chowk Ghumti to old municipality office on Circular Road, Kachary Bazaar and Railway godown have made the lives of the citizens difficult. Though there is a ban on the entry of trucks and heavy vehicles between 7 AM to 8 PM under police act 23 but still much of heavy traffic can be seen in the city where a fleet of more than 52000 donkey carts is also playing. By the way, donkey carts have been banned to go downtown recently. An owner of a cart told that he earns between rupees 500 to 1300 daily. “The poor perform most of the manual labour in this rich city — which would be paralysed without its rehri walas. Their children work in life and health threatening situations: on power looms, kilns and in carpet centres. They live without any civic facilities,” he says.
Eight bazaars are the centres of trade and always bustling with activities. They are over crowded and full of encroachments. The shopkeepers and cloth merchants throw all the packing material — plastic and paper wrappers and other crap that cannot be sold — in front of their shops that are promptly lifted by children with large sacks on their shoulders roaming about in the markets for `raddi’ collection. A shopkeeper in Bhawana Bazaar told, “any thing that is not cleared by them stays there because sanitary workers of Fasilabad (FMC), responsible for keeping the city clean, do not perform their duties.” The city is divided in two sanitary zones each headed by separate health officer having an army of sanitary workers and inspectors on their roll. Thanks to FMC, even public parks are not being cleaned. “In an industrial city like ours, they (the planners) should look at every thing including waste as a resource and provide incentives for recycle business,” he says.
Punjab Government has banned the manufacturing and uses of polythene shopper bags but how seriously this ban has been taken can be seen in Fasilabad. One finds them every where. “The polythene bags along with other industrial effluents are causing soil pollution when they reach the fields being irrigated by Rakh Branch Canal” informed an official from Irrigation Department.
Green spaces and vegetation covers — so important for ecological balance — in the city are decreasing. The `green belts’ in front of the houses, particularly in Madina Town and People Colony have been turned into filth depots because people deposit their domestic waste out side their houses and no body comes to lift it or are being used for parking. Gulistan colony, Shamsabad, Ghulam Muhammad Abad and Fateh Abad are other neglected and adversely effected areas. One can see, smell, hear and even taste the pollution in the city.
Municipal bodies, city development agencies and the traffic police seem to be at war with each other instead of jointly serving the tax payers. Muazam Ali, a resident of People Colony complains, “what is our fault if FMC or traffic police fail to pay the electric bills? WAPDA disconnects the supply to the street lights and newly installed traffic signal system. We suffer in the process.” And, “WASA alone needs rupees 3392 millions to provide full fledged sewerage facilities for the people of Fasilabad by the end of year 2000,” informed an official of WASA during a briefing to a foreign delegation.
There is no single authority to coordinate and oversee the growth and development in the city that was laid out under the concept of radical planning with clear zoning of different land uses. People now have converted their houses into industrial units. The Fasilabad development authority (FDA) has been lying useless since 1982 for the want of funds'. The Director General has pointed out, in case it had escaped the public notice, that the FDA with many officers and no assignment should be downsized. On the other hand, FDA has decided to sell its 470 residential and commercial plots and other assets to over come its financial crises. Naturally, thefinancial crises’ are for the salaries of the FDA staff. What else!
The Agricultural University (established as college in 1906), Punjab Research Institute of Agriculture and Biology, National institute of Biotechnology and Genetic Engineering, National Institute of Fertilizer, Forest Research Institute, Textile Engineering College, Punjab Medical College, Government Degree college –where I participated in declamation contest in 1972 — and other educational institutions have played very important role in spreading awareness and education in the country. The government has promised to open an other university as well. But, sadly, “thousands of children in the city do not get the see the school, though. They are engaged in various forms of labour to earn for their living,” claims a socialite Muhammad Ijaz who is working to end this servitude in collaboration with ILO and other agencies.
The problems of Fasilabad are specific and need specific solutions. FMC with its small annual budget needs to improve the services, which profoundly affect the daily lives and well being of the people. Requirement: promoting democratic rule, exercising public authority and using public resources in all public institution at the levels in a manner that is conducive to good governance.
In 1896, a new settlement was founded by Lieutenant Government Punjab, Sir James Lyall, in the area known as Sandal Bar. The plan of this habitat was prepared on the pattern of British flag by Sir Ganga Ram, a civil engineer, town planner and renowned philanthropist. The construction of eight bazaars and adjoining colonies was completed in 1902. There used to be sweet water well and an old `bargad’ tree in the centre where ghanta ghar was erected in 1918.
People of the city played an important role in Pakistan Movement. Quaid-i-Azam visited the `heart of Pakistan,’ as he called it, when annual session of Muslim league was held in the city. Over 100,000 Muslims of area welcomed the Quaid on November 17, 1942 and presented him rupees 500.00 in a reception held at Dhobi Ghat
Lyallpur, named after Sir James Lyall was initially called Pakki Mari. The name was changed to Fasilabad by General Zia ul Haq on the recommendation of a local photographer Aziz. Era of industrialization started in 1930 and Fasilabad was declared as an industrial zone in 1955. Earlier, complexion of Sandal Bar area changed with the excavation of Lower Canal originating from khanki in 1892. Presently, this `Manchester of Pakistan’ has one of the biggest and best Yarn Markets in the world. Fasilabad has grown the second biggest industrial city in the country after Karachi.
The world is becoming more urban as people are moving to cities in search of employment, educational opportunities and high standard of living. Population growth in Fasilabad has been very rapid. In 1947, the biggest of all the Kachi abadies in the country came up in the city that was later converted into Sir Syed Town and other residential colonies. Jinnah colony, Ghulam Muhammad Abad, People Colony, Afghanabad, Nazimabad and Ayub Colony came into existence in first 10-15 years after the independence. This human settlement of only 9191 people in 1901 (first census) is now home to three millions. The municipal area of the city has expanded up to 45 square Kilometres.
One of the main problems facing the city is congestion: in open spaces, public transport, housing, roads and streets. Presence of Goods Forwarding Agencies and oil tankers’ `addas’, Iron Market, Sabzi Mandi and numerous industrial units inside the city has adversely affected the cityscape. The administration has not been able to shift them out despite recommendations in Fasilabad Master Plan and complaints by the concerned citizens. Presence of these agencies in the city, particularly in the areas from Chowk Ghumti to old municipality office on Circular Road, Kachary Bazaar and Railway godown have made the lives of the citizens difficult. Though there is a ban on the entry of trucks and heavy vehicles between 7 AM to 8 PM under police act 23 but still much of heavy traffic can be seen in the city where a fleet of more than 52000 donkey carts is also playing. By the way, donkey carts have been banned to go downtown recently. An owner of a cart told that he earns between rupees 500 to 1300 daily. “The poor perform most of the manual labour in this rich city — which would be paralysed without its rehri walas. Their children work in life and health threatening situations: on power looms, kilns and in carpet centres. They live without any civic facilities,” he says.
Eight bazaars are the centres of trade and always bustling with activities. They are over crowded and full of encroachments. The shopkeepers and cloth merchants throw all the packing material — plastic and paper wrappers and other crap that cannot be sold — in front of their shops that are promptly lifted by children with large sacks on their shoulders roaming about in the markets for `raddi’ collection. A shopkeeper in Bhawana Bazaar told, “any thing that is not cleared by them stays there because sanitary workers of Fasilabad (FMC), responsible for keeping the city clean, do not perform their duties.” The city is divided in two sanitary zones each headed by separate health officer having an army of sanitary workers and inspectors on their roll. Thanks to FMC, even public parks are not being cleaned. “In an industrial city like ours, they (the planners) should look at every thing including waste as a resource and provide incentives for recycle business,” he says.
Punjab Government has banned the manufacturing and uses of polythene shopper bags but how seriously this ban has been taken can be seen in Fasilabad. One finds them every where. “The polythene bags along with other industrial effluents are causing soil pollution when they reach the fields being irrigated by Rakh Branch Canal” informed an official from Irrigation Department.
Green spaces and vegetation covers — so important for ecological balance — in the city are decreasing. The `green belts’ in front of the houses, particularly in Madina Town and People Colony have been turned into filth depots because people deposit their domestic waste out side their houses and no body comes to lift it or are being used for parking. Gulistan colony, Shamsabad, Ghulam Muhammad Abad and Fateh Abad are other neglected and adversely effected areas. One can see, smell, hear and even taste the pollution in the city.
Municipal bodies, city development agencies and the traffic police seem to be at war with each other instead of jointly serving the tax payers. Muazam Ali, a resident of People Colony complains, “what is our fault if FMC or traffic police fail to pay the electric bills? WAPDA disconnects the supply to the street lights and newly installed traffic signal system. We suffer in the process.” And, “WASA alone needs rupees 3392 millions to provide full fledged sewerage facilities for the people of Fasilabad by the end of year 2000,” informed an official of WASA during a briefing to a foreign delegation.
There is no single authority to coordinate and oversee the growth and development in the city that was laid out under the concept of radical planning with clear zoning of different land uses. People now have converted their houses into industrial units. The Fasilabad development authority (FDA) has been lying useless since 1982 for the want of funds'. The Director General has pointed out, in case it had escaped the public notice, that the FDA with many officers and no assignment should be downsized. On the other hand, FDA has decided to sell its 470 residential and commercial plots and other assets to over come its financial crises. Naturally, thefinancial crises’ are for the salaries of the FDA staff. What else!
The Agricultural University (established as college in 1906), Punjab Research Institute of Agriculture and Biology, National institute of Biotechnology and Genetic Engineering, National Institute of Fertilizer, Forest Research Institute, Textile Engineering College, Punjab Medical College, Government Degree college –where I participated in declamation contest in 1972 — and other educational institutions have played very important role in spreading awareness and education in the country. The government has promised to open an other university as well. But, sadly, “thousands of children in the city do not get the see the school, though. They are engaged in various forms of labour to earn for their living,” claims a socialite Muhammad Ijaz who is working to end this servitude in collaboration with ILO and other agencies.
The problems of Fasilabad are specific and need specific solutions. FMC with its small annual budget needs to improve the services, which profoundly affect the daily lives and well being of the people. Requirement: promoting democratic rule, exercising public authority and using public resources in all public institution at the levels in a manner that is conducive to good governance.
Labels: Travel
posted by S A J Shirazi @ Friday, March 20, 2009,
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