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PRESS
RELEASE & NEWS ARTICLES ON URC FORUMS
Helmet
use can prevent 50 pc of accidents
Use
of helmets can prevent 45 to 50 percent of road accidents, according to Dr
Rashid Juma, eminent neurosurgeon and executive director, Jinnah
Post-Graduate Medical Centre (JPMC).
Delivering
a lecture on Friday under the auspices of Urban Resource Centre (URC), a
non-governmental organisation, he said as many as 850 people died in road
accidents in Karachi in 2007 and about 500 of them were motorcyclists.
He
said nowhere in the world were motorcyclists allowed to drive without
helmets and the law in Pakistan too bound motorcyclists to wear helmets but
unfortunately it was not implemented.
He
said many accidents in Karachi occurred because of faulty construction of
bridges and flyovers. He said the cause analyses of these accidents
indicated that 84.30 per cent of them occurred due to the faults of road
users, 13.34 per cent due to environmental factors, and 2.30 due to
vehicular faults. He said the proportion of accidents had also increased in
the city because angular faults flyovers.
“Instead
of giving out contracts for the construction of bridges and flyovers, they
should be constructed by qualified civil engineers,” he remarked.
He
said besides several “black spots” in the city where accidents took
place, there were as many as 921 accidents on National Highway between
September 2006 and July 2007. These claimed 52 lives, he added.
Many
of the accidents took place due to encroachments, deteriorated condition of
road shoulders, illegal parking, unloading activity, and absence of pavement
parking and guide signs.
He
said pedestrians were the second most vulnerable group and statistics showed
that 22 per cent injuries and 38 deaths were within this group. The most
vulnerable were pedestrians under 16 (12.80 percent) or over 51 (6.70 per
cent), he added.
He
said critical issues were failure to wear helmets, overspeeding, lack of
pedestrian facilities, failure to halt buses at designated bus stops, lack
of safety measures in areas where construction was going on, and poor
visibility.
He
said many accidents occurred on Korangi Road due to water dripping from the
water tankers and trucks carrying fishmeal. He said police should ensure
that only those tankers and trucks were allowed to ply the roads that had
secured valves.
Buses
and heavy vehicles, he said, should be driven only by well-trained drivers
and buses should halt at designated bus stops only.
Dr
Juma’s recommendations included making helmet use mandatory, improved
motorbike riding skills, rigorous enforcement of rules and regulations, and
implementation of a mass transit system in the city.
He
said motorway police should be deployed on all highways.
He
said most of the accidents on Korangi Road occurred due to the absence of
street lights, sand loading activity, absence of medians, and poor condition
of road shoulders.
He
said surveys showed that many accidents took place on account of buses
plying on two routes and whenever they were issued warnings, the number of
accidents fell.
He
said at Lyari Railway Station and the TCF School, a lack of fencing was the
main cause of accidents.
He
said road safety audits were being made in collaboration with City District
Government, Karachi (CDGK) but unfortunately the latter did not have the
required staff strength.
(The
NEWS, 09/02/2008)
Flaws
in mega projects’ planning highlighted
Karachi: Most of the mega projects are planned without the consent of
citizens and without conducting proper environmental and socio-economic
studies.
Social scientist and expert Naseer Memon highlighted this at the forum of
Urban Resource Centre (URC) here on Wednesday. “That is why the projects
that start as a hype end up as failure leaving the country under the huge
burden of loans,” he remarked while speaking about the socio-economic and
environmental impacts of the mega projects.
As an example of such highly funded projects in the drainage sector, he gave
a detailed presentation on the Left Bank Outfall Drain Project (LBOD) that
commenced in 1984 with the aim to provide safe disposal of effluent from the
districts of Sindh into the sea.
That project was mainly funded by the World Bank (WB) and the Asian
Development Bank. “Although the project was initiated at an estimated cost
of Rs8.5 billion, it ended up with over 31 billion expenditure,” he
pointed out while disclosing that the outfall was designed and executed
without proper consultation with stakeholders.
The most viable option was rejected in that project on political account and
a 42km long Tidal Link Canal was built as the spinal drain of the project.
Besides, an embankment with 4.5ft height and 1800ft wide Cholri Weir were
built to maintain water level in lakes.
The weir collapsed in 1998 while a disastrous cyclone in 1999 caused 54
breaches in the embankment of the tidal link, leaving it completely
irreparable. As a result of the destroyed link canal, seawater found a
regular inlet into lake system, as a result local drains started
back-flowing towards land.
When the Inspection Panel of the World Bank was approached in September
2004, they investigated the issue and submitted a report in July 2006,
pointing out a number of natural factors that were previously neglected.
The bank wanted to compensate the affected people through two new projects -
Coastal Area Development Program (CADP) and Water Sector Improvement Project
(WISP). Both CADP and WSIP are financed under WB loans of US$ 90 million and
US$ 140 million, respectively, which are not compensation but additional
loans.
Concluding his presentation, Naseer Memon laid stress on the need of such
projects that not only encounter the problems of citizens but must also not
cause additional liabilities (in the form of loans) that would be paid off
by none other than the citizens of this country.
(The
News, 17/01/2008)
Traffic
police launch drive against over-speeding
Traffic
police have been instructed to impose section 279 on the drivers for
over-speeding with effect from April 15. The Deputy Inspector General of
Police (Traffic), Karachi, Wajid Ali Khan Durrani issued this instruction
while taking notice of 29 fatal accidents that took place in one month
alone.
“This would be a special drive to control speed violations,” he said.
However, he maintained that initially two vehicles with a device to check
speed violations would be deployed at Mai Kolachi and Sunset Boulevard and
later at Korangi Road where accidents occur more frequently due to over
speeding.
Durrani was talking to an open forum on Wednesday at the office of Urban
Resource Centre, an NGO that holds discussions on civic issues. He briefed
the forum regarding the solutions he had proposed to higher authorities and
the progress made so far in this regard. He said that he was working to
induct 2,000 officers, passed from public service commission. He also
proposed increasing salaries of traffic personnel and giving them some
incentives that might help minimize corruption and yield good results.
He emphasized on the provision of Mass Transit System, saying, flyovers and
underpasses would not solve the problem since a big city like Karachi where
both population and vehicle growth was always on the rise should have proper
Mass Transit System be it by means of buses or trains. He also stressed the
need for deploying latest equipment and traffic control devices without
which it would be difficult for his men to work efficiently.
Responding to a question regarding the recruitment of women traffic wardens,
he said: “In the present situation where people often quarrel with
policemen and even beat them, it won’t be a good idea to bring women”.
Giving an example, he said there were cases when traffic sergeants were shot
or hit with speeding vehicles while performing their duties. “This
attitude of public doesn’t favour women recruitment. We can do it later
once the new force is inducted and situation changes, for which we have been
working,” he added.
Earlier, Durrani gave a detailed presentation on traffic and transport
problems, hindrances on the part of other stakeholders and the current
capability of the department.
“In 2002, some 84 vehicles per day were added to traffic and that ratio
has now reached 544 vehicles a day,” he informed, adding: “1.8mn
vehicles are plying in the city while there are only 1,200 to 1,300
policemen to control and regulate traffic.”
He further said that only 20,000 buses were plying in Karachi which happens
to be the seventh biggest city of the world in terms of population.
(The
News-14, 17/04/2008)
LG
system ruining democracy: Ghani
KARACHI:
The local government system has traumatised the democracy in
Pakistan as it has caused lethal damages to the provincial autonomy because
the city nazim or the district government with unlimited powers have
challenged the writ of the executive of the province.
A
sheer example of this phenomenon could be elicited from a case that a
teacher who had been transferred to the city from the interior Sindh was not
allowed to join the city’s school because the nazim had not given the
approval, despite the fact that the Sindh chief minister had
ordered to do so. Such a situation proves the tarnishing effect of the LG
system.
There
is an urgent need that the system should be reviewed and rational
amendments be introduced so that the true spirit of the LG system would be
saved. The Leader of the Opposition in the City Council and General
Secretary Pakistan People’s Party, Karachi, Saeed Ghani,
stated this while addressing a workshop organised by the Urban Resource
Centre on Wednesday.
He
regretted that the LG system had empowered the city nazim to bar the CM from
inaugurating any development project on the pretext that it was developed by
the CDGK. He said it was an undeniable fact that local bodies’ elections
held in 2001 were completely opposed and boycotted under claims that the
system was against the people but today they have been advocating for the
existence of the ugly LG system without any change.
He added that the LG system has failed to serve the masses as billions and
trillions of rupees have been spent on flyovers and signal free corridors
while citizens of the city are still looking for potable water. They have
wasted public money instead they should have rather used these funds for the
establishment of schools, hospitals and should have ensured availability of
the basic needs of the citizens.
He added that in the past the mayor had to chair the City Council
session and answer the House, but the ongoing LG system has exempted
the city nazim while the City Council has no powers except to table and pass
resolutions. The role and powers of the city naib nazim are
self-explanatory. He explained that as far as section 140-A of
the Constitution of Pakistan was concerned contrary to their
claims, it was not part of the constitution but was introduced later through
the Legal Framework Order by a dictator.
He said that section demands accountability, transparency, and participation
of the masses at grass root level but the ongoing LG system is completely
void of these salient requirements due to centralisation of powers.
He said the LG system needs to be revamped and the local
governments and nazims should not be given unlimited powers but their
role should be extremely limited so that they could perform according to
their capabilities.
Ghani added the LG system should only be limited to a few departments such
as water and sewerage, road construction, parks and playgrounds.
He said the local governments should not be given charge of
education, health and major development projects because this involves the
present and future of the nation.
(By
Irfan Aligi, DailyTimes, 08/10/2009)
LG
system likely to be wrapped up by 16th
KARACHI,
Oct 7: The local government system is likely to be wrapped up in Sindh by
Oct 16, with the appointment of administrators shortly afterwards in place
of town and district nazims to run the affairs of local government
institutions till the next local bodies elections.
This was said by the leader of the opposition in the city district council,
Saeed Ghani, while speaking to journalists after delivering a lecture on the
local government system at the Urban Resource Centre on
Wednesday.
Mr Ghani, who is also the Karachi division general secretary of the Pakistan
People’s Party, further revealed that amendments being made to the Sindh Local
Government Ordinance, 2001 contained a number of proposals such as carving
out six or more districts in Karachi and the revival of the
commissioner system in the province.
Asked if there would be six or more district governments in Karachi and a
similar number of district nazims once the amendments pertaining to the
creation of more districts in the city was made to the SLGO, 2001, he
replied in the affirmative.
“Isn’t it illogical that Karachi which prior to the introduction of the
new local government system was a division and had five districts was turned
into just one district, while four districts were carved out
in Hyderabad division, two districts each in Larkana and Dadu
division?” he questioned.
In reply to a query about the elections schedule, Mr Ghani said that the
elections could be held as soon as the proposed amendments to the SLGO, 2001
were approved by the Sindh Assembly.
He said that the Sindh government had tabled a bill in the
assembly for cancellation of all illegal allotment and occupation of amenity
plots, including parks and playgrounds since 1994. But, the PPP’s
coalition partner in the provincial government had been opposing the passage
of the bill on the grounds that cancellation of such plots should be made
effective from the date the bill was adopted by the assembly, he
added.
The local government system in other three provinces might be done away with
as there was a general consensus against it, the PPP leader said. However,
he reiterated, the present local government system in Sindh would stay with
some amendments made to the SLGO, 2001.
While delivering a lecture on the local government system at the URC
earlier, he said that while provincial government departments had been
devolved to city district governments under the Local Government
Ordinance, 2001, the devolution of federal government
departments to the provinces could not take place.
He said that the city governments should not be overburdened with so many
departments, adding that functions pertaining to water, sewerage, drainage,
traffic management, road network, parks and playgrounds should be the
subjects of the city governments. All other departments, including education
and health, should not be devolved at all, he said.
He said that although the local government system functioned as democracy’s
nursery, it was ironical that all the three local government systems had
been introduced in the country during the regimes of Ayub Khan,
Zia-ul-Haq and Pervez Musharraf.
He was, however, of the view that the 1979 local government system was
better than the present local government system because in the former
system, the city’s mayor and city council members used to have
representation in the Karachi Port Trust, Railways and the
Karachi Electric Supply Company.
“Isn’t it a major flaw in the present local government system that the
nazims of districts and towns, who are indirectly elected, have been
delegated financial powers, while the nazims and members of union councils
who are elected directly do not enjoy such powers?” he posed a
question.
Mr Ghani said the city government claimed to have undertaken a number of
mega projects in Karachi, but unfortunately the projects were never
discussed in the city council.
URC Joint Director Zahid Farooq moderated the programme.
(By
Azizullah Sharif, Daily Dawn, 08/10/2009)
Spare
of thought for the street children
KARACHI
: It has been two years since the National Child Protection Bill was lying
with the Islamic Ideological Council for review after it was tabled before
the parliament, and the government continues to make false promises as to
when it will be implemented. This was stated by Initiator Human Development
Foundation (IHDF) President Rana Asif Habib, while presenting details of his
work on
Karachi
’s street children at the Urban Resource Centre.
“Even though
Pakistan
is a signatory to the United Nations Convention on Child Rights for the past
21 years, nothing substantial has been done for the improvement of the state
of children by any government because people who are a part of planning
commissions pertaining to children’s issues have little knowledge of the
dimensions of these problems themselves,” he added.
According to Habib, it is estimated that there are over 15,000 children in
Karachi
who live on the streets and another 500,000 who work on the streets but have
shelters of some kind to go to when night falls. A survey he conducted in
the towns of Gulberg, Jamshed and Saddar revealed that 45 percent of street
children are beggars, whereas others are involved in selling drugs, shop
lifting, pick pocketing and working as commercial sex workers; among other
odd jobs such as serving at small restaurants, garbage-picking, car washing
and polishing shoes.
Habib also pointed out that a large percentage of these children are
sexually active in one way or the other, with 57 percent of the total
involved in sex with consent and 34 percent forced into it, adding that only
as little as 9 percent of children are not sexually abused at all.
He further said according to responses collected from street children, it
was observed that more than 30 percent of the sexually abused children
alleged their perpetrators were police officials.
“Females form five percent of street children, and most of them are sent
off to beg, to work as commercial sex workers in other cities, or are sold
for as low as Rs 5,000 under the garb of getting them ‘married’ from
where they can be taken to people’s homes to work as domestic workers,”
told Rana.
During the question and answer session, the IHDF president pressed on the
need for government involvement in working for the welfare of street
children, along with active community participation from citizens.
People were particularly urged to not stigmatise street children just
because they have landed on the city’s streets to live in conditions that
involve drug use, disease, poverty, criminal coercion, sexual abuse and road
accidents.
(By
Haya Fatima Iqbal , DailyTimes-B1, 27/05/2010)
URC
hosted a seminar on environmental pollution. PHOTO
KARACHI
: “If
the birds are in trouble then it means that very soon, we will be in
trouble,” warned Dr Iqbal Saeed Khan, the former director of the
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), at a seminar on Thursday.
The
seminar, held at the Urban Resource Centre, saw several panelists speak on
the different factors destroying our environment and what should be done
about it.
“Birds
and frogs are an indicator of our environment,” Dr Khan continued, “And
if frogs are getting extinct that means our biodiversity is getting
extinct.”
Solid
waste
“One
man generates about half a kilogramme of solid waste per day,” he said.
From the slums of the city to the most developed areas, there are heaps and
piles of garbage and organic and inorganic solid waste that has no place to
be dumped in or outside the city. “There is no landfill anywhere in
Pakistan
,” he pointed out, “One was to be made near
Rawalpindi
but the project stopped after the earthquake tragedy in 2005.”
Karachi
’s solid waste is dumped in the outskirts of the city near some villages,
from where the toxins accumulate and seep through the soil thus polluting
our water and lines, he said.
Highlighting
multiple environmental issues, Dr Khan stressed that the government needs to
do more to overcome the problems and to raise public awareness.
The
rain drains in the city are now covered with heaps of solid waste that not
only pollute the surrounding areas but are usually so tightly packed that
they choke the drains.
Meanwhile,
the
Lyari
River
, which was one of the city’s rain drains, now has houses built on its
banks, lamented the doctor.
Hospital
and industrial waste
The
city has around 500 hospitals and none of them have a proper waste disposal
mechanism.
“We
dump 400 million tons of water in the sea without treatment,” said Dr
Khan, “The amount is even greater than that deposited in
India
’s
Ganges
River
.”
He
said that industrial waste is one of the biggest environmental pollutants.
“There are almost 4,000 industrial units in the city that discharge about
2,000 toxic chemical by-products.”
These
by-products are not just destroying the environment but are directly
affecting people living in industrial areas,” Dr Khan told The
Express Tribune.
He
said that the environment is being degraded day by day due to haphazard
growth, poverty and non implementation of existing laws.
These
are the reasons that despite producing less waste than several developed
countries like the
US
,
UK
,
France
and
Germany
, our country is suffering more from pollution than they are.
Supporting
his observations, Ahmed Khan Sheedai, a social worker in Awami Colony, near
Korangi, told The
Express Tribune that
there are people who have had to shift due to these hazards. Citing a
personal example, Sheedai explained how a cardboard factory in the area was
diffusing dust in the air and causing eye allergies among the residents.
“All the residents united and complained about that factory, which was
later closed with the cooperation of the CDGK.”
According
to Dr Khan, public awareness is the key requirement to fight the looming
environmental disaster that can have long standing effects on our future
generations.
The
300 laws on environment are futile since the authorities do not implement
them and the public is simply not aware of their existence, he added.
Ghulam
Kibria, coordinator of a private NGO, National Forum for Environment and
Health, said that they go to schools and get students to participate in
plantation projects. “We believe that spreading awareness at a young
age is the solution to a pollution-free environment,” he said.
(By Samia
Saleem, Daily Tribune Express, 11/06/2010)
Environment
protection practices in city in shambles’
KARACHI
: Around 400 million gallons of sewage water are dumped into the sea
everyday in
Karachi
, which itself is a record that no other city in the world has been able to
break. Also, since 1947, not a single landfill site has been constructed in
the city.
Such eye-opening facts were presented by former Sindh Environmental
Protection Agency director general Dr Iqbal Saeed Khan, at the Urban
Resource Centre on Thursday.
Dr Khan, in his talk titled “Environmental Protection in
Karachi
- The Current Situation and Way Forward” told the audience that
environment protection practices in
Karachi
are in shambles, not just due to a lack of awareness among all stakeholders
but also because of rampant corruption at the highest levels of government.
According to the speaker, “The four main causes of air pollution in the
mega city are pollutant-emitting vehicles; followed by use and burning of
plastics and polythene which release extremely harmful dioxins; industries;
and the rampant use of power generators.”
Describing preventable environmental offenses, he informed that about
100,000 two-stroke engine rickshaws generate un-burnt fuel on a daily basis
in the city, producing solid particulates of engine oil that are inhaled by
us.
Moreover, approximately 100,000 child scavengers working in the city are
prone to diseases by picking up all kind of waste with bare hands, including
highly hazardous hospital waste.
Also, a major problem highlighted by Dr Khan was the continuous mixing of
sewage water with drinking water in various parts of the city. Referring to
the recent rains in
Karachi
, he said that because of the ugly transformation of natural storm water
drains into sewage drains, and construction of pakka houses over water
bodies such as the
Lyari
River
, well-water beneath the land’s surface was being polluted. He also
described how polluted water resulted in gastrointestinal diseases, and how
the use of Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) in the manufacturing of
pesticides and insecticides which are used on crops remain in the food chain
and consequently reach the human body to produce cancers.
Suggesting ways to improve this situation in general, he urged the
authorities to do away with outdated and less-detailed laws in order to
bring in more efficient laws which are relevant with the dynamics of the
modern world. He also said that the environment tribunal in Sindh must
function more professionally.
“We should not pass on torn forests, unclean water bodies, dirty seas, and
diseased genes to our future generations at any cost,” Dr Khan concluded.
(By
Haya Fatima Iqbal, DailyTimes-B1, 11/06/2010)
Joint
efforts stressed to protect environment
KARACHI
, June 10: An expert on environmental issues and conservation activities
stressed on Thursday the need to apply social pressures against polluters
for the safety of future generations.
A former director general of the Sindh Environmental Protection Agency (Sepa),
Dr Iqbal Saeed Khan, was speaking at a forum organised by the Urban Resource
Centre. He said that every citizen of the country, be it a common man or a
high-profile corporate boss, should realise the importance of safe physical
and natural environment and help curb the massive and diverse environmental
degradation taking place both in the rural and urban areas, particularly in
Sindh.
“Our environmental monitors and activists should know that among many
shortcomings on their parts, the holding of information and not hearing the
people who suffer physically, mentally, socially or economically at the
hands of polluters or due to poor environmental practices was also
tantamount to committing a crime or corruption,” Mr Khan said.
A bachelor in medicine and master in environmental science, in his public
awareness lecture he also highlighted the burning of about a dozen children
a few years back in SITE due to careless dumping of toxic materials in a
playground by the nearby industrialists, and claimed that he was removed
from Sepa to please the offending industrialists.
He said non-governmental organisations, community-based organisations,
government organisations and the media should join hands to address
environmental issues and true enforcement of environmental laws in
Karachi
and other parts of the country.
The awareness about environment was indispensable for the motivation of
every section of society, which in return paved the way for sustainable
development and befitting and disease-free population, he said.
Discussing the reasons behind a poor response to environment-friendly steps,
the scientist said there was no special curriculum or special training
programme on the environment in most educational institutions,
environment-related laws were either deficient or were hardly applied by
individuals or socially active groups.
Our men and women are equally affected by environmental decay, caused by
persistent organic pollutants, heavy metals such as mercury, cadmium, lead
and chromium discharged by our factories and there was no treatment of
water, air and water bodies, he said, adding that it was unfortunate that
there was not a single scientifically prepared and maintained landfill site
to manage industrial, commercial and municipal solid waste in the country.
Mr Khan said that inadequate solid waste management, wastewater treatment
and industrial water treatment and a lack of incinerators and careless
collection and disposal of hospital wastes were among the problems that
needed the attention of political leaders and policy makers.
(Dawn-13,
11/06/2010)
More
than half of bottled water brands unfit for use
As
many as 12 out of the 22 brands of bottled water sold in Pakistan were
“unsafe for human consumption,” Naeem Sadiq, an activist of Shehri-Citizens
for a Better Environment (Shehri-CBE) said on Wednesday, while citing a 2004
report of the science and technology ministry’s Pakistan Council for
Research in Water Resources (PCRWR).
During a lecture at the office of the Urban Resource Centre (URC), Sadiq
said that these brands were found to be unsafe by none other than the
government of
Pakistan
due to poor microbiological and chemical quality. Small wonder then, that on
December 31, 2004, the Supreme Court of Pakistan was compelled to take a
serious view of the report, he said, adding however, that sadly, one finds
various unsafe brands of bottled water being marketed with impunity in the
impoverished country.
On November 30, 2004, the Sindh High Court (SHC) also made history when it
restrained an international water company from providing water in “
Education
City
” at the
Super Highway
,
Karachi
, for American soldiers fighting the “war on terror” in
Afghanistan
, he said.
Had the SHC not done this, the Gadap aquifer would have been drained,
affecting the lives and livelihood of the local population.
Sadiq said that as many as 200 billion bottles of water were produced across
the world every year for a whopping $50billion business. One liter of
bottled water in
Pakistan
costs 30 times more than the same amount of tap water, he added.
Bottled water means environmental degradation of the worst and involved the
wastage of precious resources, Sadiq said. Around 200 billion plastic
bottles are produced across the world every year and only 20 per cent of
them are re-cycled, which is perhaps why the developed world, which is short
of landfills, has found the developing world to be an ideal dumping ground
of plastic waste, he said.
“Bottled water is one of the biggest scams of our time,” he said. Common
folk and the elite alike are given the impression that bottled water was
“pure” “safe” and “fresh” and has pristine labels — this,
however, is a farce, Sadiq claimed.
Bottled water was first introduced in
Pakistan
in 1968, and amazingly, while the worldwide growth of bottled water was 24
per cent per annum; it was 40 per cent per annum in
Pakistan
, he said, adding that common folk were finding it increasingly difficult to
get water in
Pakistan
.
Four factors push the demand for bottled water: exaggerated fear of tap
water; seduction of mineral water bottles; corruption of the government; and
the greed of the corporate sector, Sadiq said. The Karachi Water &
Sewerage Board (KWSB) has a foreign debt of Rs 42 billion and no donor is
ready to help anymore, he said.
“The plain truth is that there is no water shortage in
Karachi
because it receives 695 million gallons every day,” Sadiq said, adding
however, that a major chunk of this is lost due to theft, pilferage and
faulty lines.
(By
Shahid Husain, The News-13, 14/05/2010)
Karachi
: If
it is not attached to a water dispenser in your house, it is in your bag.
Drinking bottled mineral water has become a status symbol in the city where
people use it without being aware of its quality and side effects, claims
nongovernment organisation Shehri – Citizens for a Better Environment.
Laboratory
tests have proved that none of the bottled water brands offer purity,
nourishment and safety, contrary to their claims on the packages, said Naeem
Sadiq, a member of Shehri, while presenting his research on tap and bottled
water at the Urban Resource Centre,
Karachi
. “Bottled water is one of the biggest scams of the twentyfirst
century,” he said. Twelve out of 22 mineral water brands in
Pakistan
have been providing contaminated water, according to a report by the
Pakistan Council for Research in Water Resources in 2004, Sadiq said.
Another
report issued by the same organisation in 2009 said that 16 out of 22
mineral water brands were involved in the business of selling contaminated
water, he added. “Some companies fill water from taps in Orangi and Landhi.”
“The infamous tap water is not mixed with sewage as it is claimed by these
companies,” Sajid said, adding that a mineral water brand, owned by a
multinational company, has recently admitted to using tap water. There are
many problems with tap water in the city but using mineral water is not the
solution. Rather we should address the issues and guide people, Sadiq said.
“Research
has revealed that consumption of drinking water is increasing by 40 per cent
every year while the provision of clean tap water is decreasing at the same
rate,” he said. According to Sadiq’s research, the issue of shortage of
clean water in the city has been exaggerated so that a “mafia” made up
of the government and big corporations could deprive people of their basic
right to clean water and earn big money, Sadiq said. Moreover, research
carried out by the project director of Orangi Pilot Project, Parveen Rehman,
has also revealed that the water crisis in
Karachi
was manufactured and not real.
According
to Rehman, the city is supplied with 695 million gallons of water every day
out of which 272 million gallons are stolen. Moreover, people living in
informal settlements pay up to Rs100 for every 25 gallons of water, which
Sadiq said, is more than what the wealthier residents of the city pay for
tanker-supplied water.
(By
Fawad Ali Shah, Daily Tribune, 29/04/2010)
Community
integration must for Lyari uplift’
KARACHI: Participants of a discussion on the Lyari Development Package
(LDP), held by the Urban Resource Centre (URC) on Thursday, stressed the
need for community integration for addressing Lyari’s issues including
education.
The event was dedicated to the slain Gutter Baghicha Bachao Tehreek
president, Nisar Hussain Baloch, and was attended by Lyari Development
Programme Managing Director Shafiqur Rehman Paracha, representatives of
local non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and community-based
organisations (CBOs) among others.
URC Joint Director Zahid Farooq praised Baloch for his sacrifice and said it
was possible to hope for betterment because of such dedicated people.
The programme started with a multimedia presentation followed by a
discussion about why Lyari was in a dilapidated and neglected state.
Paracha pointed out the various persistent ground realities from Lyari’s
sanitation issues to the current law and order situation that has been
aggravating for the past couple of decades.
He also pointed out vertical expansion in cramped situations to be a major
cause of decay as it not only reduced breathing space, but also the chances
of providing timely relief in case of an emergency. Horizontal resettlement
under these conditions is unavoidable, he added.
He also said other problems included continuous encroachment on open spaces
and general neglect in maintenance of the seven parks and 12 playgrounds in
the locality.
Referring to the love of football, cycling and boxing among the residents of
Lyari, he said it was important to maintain and develop the playgrounds to
promote healthy growth among the youth.
He added that he and his team had involved local sportsmen and their clubs
in the revamping of their playgrounds. He termed community integration as
the basic tool for addressing all the issues in Lyari, especially those of
the education sector.
Citing examples of the existing schools, he said the MM Sadiq School and the
AK Swaleh Mohammad School were in an extremely rundown and neglected state,
but with the assistance of Farhana Iqbal of the Education Foundation, around
200 students have already been trained.
However, Iqbal said it was necessary to integrate teachers of the same
locality to increase ownership as well as accountability.
The programme was followed by an interactive question-and-answer session
where the residents of Lyari expressed their scepticism regarding the LDP.
Representing a local NGO, Aslam Khwaja raised the question of political
commitment towards Lyari and said it was not possible to develop Lyari
without it. In reply, Paracha said, “Performance is needed more than
political commitment to make things work in Lyari.”
URC Chairman Arif Hassan concluded the occasion by asking the audience,
especially the residents of Lyari, to establish a research and development
wing and create a network of NGOs and CBOs, following the example of the
Orangi Pilot Project started by Dr Akhtar Hameed Khan. He said even if such
a network was formed, it would take around two decades for the results to
become visible.
(By
Andaleeb Rizvi, DailyTimes-B1, 14/05/2010)
Rehabilitation
only possible on Taluka level, says Arif Hassan
The
veteran architect and Urban Resource Centre (URC) Chairman Arif Hassan has
suggested the authorities concerned should kick off the process of
rehabilitation not at the district or provincial level but at the Taluka
Level.
The non-governmental organisations or any other network presently involved
in addressing the issues of the flood-affected population were unable to
carry out the process not just due to the scale but because it was out of
their domain.
He was addressing a discussion “Floods and after” at the URC on 29th
September 2010.
All efforts to rehabilitate the flood affectees would be in vain if
decisions were made above the Taluka level.
He said that the floods of 1973 were the largest ever, but the devastations
inflicted during recent floods cannot be compared to the past.
Talking about the causes of the floods, Hassan claimed that the recent
floods could be termed as a man-made disaster, and although he was not an
expert on agriculture, he was basing his analysis on his work experience.
He said there were three stable points along the River Indus course in Sindh,
at Sukkur, Kotri Hills and Sehwan Hills, and heavy deviations to the normal
river routes resulted in the catastrophe.
The cutting of trees and removal of shrubbery along the riverbanks and the
silting of canals over the years raised the riverbed level, which caused the
water to flush away the property with an unprecedented speed, he said.
Additionally, the clay abodes in the low-lying areas in the flood plains
with roads constructed many feet above caused heavy inundation.
The second phase of the catastrophe would be more disappointing because the
floods have eliminated the land identification marks; therefore, land
grabbing would be a chain reaction, he said.
The ancient Bandobasti methods should be incorporated to settle the land
disputes, he advocated.
A lot of flood affectees presently in shelter homes in cities, would not
wish to go back due to the elimination of educational and healthcare
infrastructures and appropriate measures were needed to address their
issues.
However, discussing the bright side he said the rehabilitation process would
provide opportunities to improve the local economy by involving local
investors such as those dealing with building materials, and creating
employment.
He advised that Research and Extension Institutes should be erected in
Hyderabad, Larkana and Thar where the local people who suffered the calamity
should be able to devise a self-rehabilitation mechanism, which could never
be accurately developed by people in cities.
(By
Irfan Aligi, DailyTimes-B1, 30/09/2010)
Local
bureaucracy identified as key to flood relief
KARACHI: The
government needs to set up administrative units at the taluka level to
combat the devastation caused by floods, suggested architect and planner
Arif Hasan at a seminar titled “The floods and after”, held at the Urban
Resource Centre on 29th September 2010.
Hasan
addressed the issue of rehabilitation, particularly in Sindh. “The best
way to handle relief activities would be to appoint a grade-19 officer in
each taluka, who can identify local issues and engineer solutions in
collaboration with relief organisations. Effective bureaucracy is the
solution,” he said.
In
most flood-hit areas, landmarks have disappeared, and Hasan believes that
this will pose a challenge to the people trying to identify their land. For
this reason, many internally displaced persons (IDPs) are planning not to
return to their villages and instead hope to find employment and housing
somewhere else.
Returning
IDPs are likely to face issues such as water scarcity, unemployment and the
unavailability of educational facilities for their children. The architect
suggested that the quickest way to tackle these problems would be to install
hand-pumps and tube-wells to provide water and assign local representatives
to handle land disputes.
He
also believed that the Engineering Council should chalk out plans for
infrastructure rehabilitation and work with the government for the
implementation of their plans.
Hasan
identified housing as something that the government needs to take
responsibility for and accomplish on its own.
“It
is not a feat to be accomplished by the non-governmental organisations,”
he said, adding, “How many model villages can they make?”
He
believed that the construction of model villages was an inadequate solution
the problem of housing, since the land acquired for such projects is not
equally owned by villagers and can lead to internal strife. The architect
also said that there is no shortage of land in Karachi, and it is possible
for the government to build colonies of small houses in the city.
The
slow and ineffective pace at which reconstruction efforts are taking place
will soon takes its toll on the public, according to Hasan. “The already
frustrated public’s mood could turn furious if efforts are not made to
step up rehabilitation.”
(The
Express Tribune, 30/09/2010)
Local
technology needs to be used in resettling IDPs
Eminent architect and town planner Arif Hasan has said that never before
Pakistan has witnessed a disaster of greater magnitude as was seen in the
recent floods, and local technology should be used to resettle hundreds of
thousands of Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) in rural areas.
He made the observation while delivering a lecture on “Floods and After”
at the Urban Resource Centre on 29th September 2010.
Responding to a question he said: “A two-room house in rural areas with a
bathroom, a kitchen and a hand pump can be constructed in 45,000 rupees.”
He said 42 “talukas” have been affected by flooding in Sindh and
suggested that a 19-grade officer should be posted at “taluka” level to
coordinate with non-governmental organisations (NGOs), professionals and
other people who are ready to lend a helping hand in resettlement of IDPs.
Failure to do so would force poor people to borrow money from money lenders
and become part of a vicious circle, he said. He said disaster
rehabilitation is not short-term. Engineering institutes should come forward
and institutes need to be made to carry on “research and extension”
process.
He said it was true that there is no policy as yet from the government as
how to contain the crisis and before working out the details about
implementation, one needs to know the policy.
Hasan said that the “market is important,” and that there should be an
understanding of the market since building material, the role of contractors
and loans would play an important role in rehabilitation. However, he said,
there will be problems since many people have no bank accounts nor do they
have national identity cards. Every thing has been lost.
He said the government has a big network and pressure needs to be exerted on
the government to use this network for the benefit of the people. “The
question is how it can be made operational? This is the biggest challenge,”
Hasan observed.
Responding to another question, he said, “I don’t talk of land reforms;
I talk of land settlement.” He said the government could only offer land
to poor peasants if tenants are brought on record. He said there should be
“public sector reforms” through “public hearings” and government’s
assets should be used for the benefit of the public.
He said the governance system should be such that it delivers and this can’t
be done without “de-centralisation.”
There should either be institutions of “participatory democracy” or
there should be effective democracy, he said. He said local bodies should
have been strengthened but sadly enough this was not done.
Hasan said he has been traveling a lot on boats on River Indus since the
1960s and have witnessed great changes in the entire area. “To a great
extent this flooding is man-made,” he pointed out, “but the devastation
this time has no comparison.”
He said when River Indus enters Sindh it has only three “stable points.”
One is Sukkur, the second is Kotri and the third is Sehwen. The river
constantly changes its direction between these “stable points,” he
said.
He said the “inundation channels” were given the shape of canals and
changes occurred during the colonial period. But the “real change” came
after the construction of Sukkur Barrage and other barrages.
He said water level and roads are 10-12 feet above the ‘katcha’ areas
and as a result water can’t go back to the river. Infrastructure planning
has been such, he said, that it has stopped the flow of natural nullahs and
depressions.
Secondly, he pointed out, shrubby has been cut and “bunds” collapsed
because trees have been chopped off. He said another factor came to the
surface after the Movement for the Restoration of Democracy (MRD) during the
era of military dictator Gen. Ziaul Haq and all government departments
collapsed. “One million tons silt is brought by the river every day,” he
said, but de-silting is not carried out elaborately.
Hasan said one of the problems of IDPs is how will they identify their land.
Then there are people who don’t want to go back.
They are asking for a “pakka parchi” so that they may have a piece of
land in urban centres. He said there are different types of ‘haris’ but
there is no record.
The eminent town planner said that damage in ‘katcha’ land has
essentially been due to dams and private ‘bunds’. He said another
problem faced by poor people is non-availability of drinking water. People
are reluctant to go back to their abodes in rural areas because of problems
related to health and education, he said. Every thing has been washed away.
Tube-wells and wells need to be cleansed, he said.
New engineering standards need to be evolved so that mistakes are not
repeated, he said. He said mega infrastructure work can provide employment
and local people should be given preference because this will give a boost
to the economy. The issue is how the cost of building material can be
controlled, he said.
(By
Shahid Husain, The News-13, 30/09/2010)
The
urban poor face a desperate situation as the country’s housing crisis
spirals out of control. With little government or institutional support of
loans, lease or land allotment, their struggle to own their home continues.
 This
was part of the findings of a survey, titled ‘An overview of the present
housing crisis in Pakistan and a way forward’, prepared and presented by
Prof. Dr Noman Ahmad, the chairman of the faculty of Architecture and
Planning, NED University, at the Urban Resource Centre on Wednesday 25th
May 2011.
Population
growth, rural-to-urban and urban-to-urban migration, reconstruction and
repair of existing units and the changing nature of family units were
identified as the main factors that create the need for and shortfall of
housing units. The pre-flood total urban housing requirement was estimated
at 2.7 million units. The population growth rate is around 2.6 per
cent, while it is 4.7 per cent for urban areas. Limitations of land,
infrastructure and resources add to the bleak scenario.
He
highlighted that those from low-income groups can rarely buy land. Even when
they do become homeowners, they are located at the city’s periphery.
“Rental housing can help provide some relief. The government can subsidise
construction that will cut costs of contractors, which will also lessen
rent,” Dr Ahmad suggested. Other recommendations included regulatory
mechanism to fix price and the revival of the House Building Finance
Corporation (HBFC) – a source of soft loans.
Community-based
housing was also identified as a possible solution.
Historical
overview
Dr
Ahmad’s presentation also provided an historical snapshot of the problem,
identifying its genesis and mapping its evolution. The Ministry of
Rehabilitation was set up to solve the refugee problem at the time of
Independence
as
Karachi
faced a mass influx of refugees. As it became the nation’s capital from a
small coastal town, its population jumped from 400,000 to over 1.1 million
within the first four years of the country’s inception.
From
1955 to 1965, the government allocated 10 per cent of public spending to
housing, as it constructed entire refugee colonies and gave out units at
soft loans. However, shortfall in payments made it unmanageable and squatter
settlements were the result of this policy failure.
For
the next 20 years, the government tolerated katchi abadis as its spending
shrank, Dr Ahmad added. By the third five-year plan, the government sought
the help of the private sector for housing, providing tax incentives to
builders.
Dr
Ahmad informed the audience that from 1970 to 1988, the government only
provided land, as it realised that construction was extremely
capital-intensive. The HBFC was set up to provide financing to homeowners,
while the KDA handled land development, he said.
During
the time of seventh five-year plan , an important development was the
introduction of land reforms. But it wasn’t until the introduction of the
National Housing Policy in 2002 that the extent of the problem was
acknowledged.
(By
Hussain Dada, The Express Tribune, 26/05/2011)
Govt
urged to develop cities like Karachi
Government should develop other cities of the country on the footprints of
Karachi
since growing population of the metropolis is multiplying its issues
particularly the accommodation.
NED University of Engineering and Technology’s Department of Architecture
and Planning Chairman Dr Noman Ahmed expressed these views after
participating in a forum on civic issues organised on Wednesday 25th
May 2011 by the Urban Resource Centre (URC).
Delivering his presentation in the forum, Dr Ahmed said, “It is a matter
of great concern that reliable quantitative data and situation analysis
about recent housing status is not available in the country.”
The lack of housing regulatory authority as well as documentation process
are basic issues which cause hindrance in stabilising property prices and
maintaining data, he said, adding, “There must be a mechanism for the sale
and purchase of land which can regulate the whole process”.
He underscored the need of housing price index for stabilising the rates of
land and house. Many projects and programmes were introduced in the past but
due to mismanagement they could not be completed, Dr Ahmed said.
He maintained housing is the third most essential human need after food and
clothing. It is a process, which has many ingredients including land,
infrastructure, building materials, technology and means of access (to
housing).
Housing is related to the larger issues such as employment, transportation,
health and education facilities, he added. Some 45 percent population in
urban Sindh and 50 percent in urban
Punjab
live in single room houses. Only 53 percent have access to a water source in
urban
Pakistan
, not necessarily drinkable, he informed.
No credit facilities exist for the urban poor in the formal banking
structure. Credit is essentially tied with collateral, which excludes all
those who do not possess any land title or proof of ownership for land. He
said a large number of stakeholders who support housing provision do not
have any recognition in the main stream policy or decision making apparatus
in housing.
(By
Haris Hanif, DailyTimes-B1, 26/05/2011)
Who
has bigger problems? KWSB, residents get together to discuss each other's
issues
When
residents met Karachi Water and Sewerage Board (KWSB) officials on
Wednesday, they had a list of similar complaints. Some fussed about severe
water shortages in their areas, while others protested illegal connections
and favouritism towards certain residents.
The
water board’s officers heard people’s pleas at a seminar at the Urban
Resource Centre (URC) on Wednesday 15th
June 2011. However, what the people did not realise is that the organisation
is facing problems greater than theirs.
KWSB
Managing Director Misbahuddin Farid candidly told the people that the
organisation does not have the resources to start development plans. “How
can we provide water to a city that is vastly expanding?” he asked.
According
to Farid, the city is currently facing a shortage of 240 million gallons per
day. Karachi has a rate of 25 litres per capita, while most developing
countries usually have at least 35 to 45 litres per capita.
Farid
identified the city’s distance as one of the multiple issues faced by KWSB.
“Since the city is so spread out, we have to pump water from great
distances. This increases our electricity expenses and because of the
distance, there is evaporation and leakages,” he explained. The fact that
the city is 17 feet below sea level is also problematic since the water is
easily contaminated with sewerage water, he added. The MD went as far as
admitting that his employees are sometimes involved in corruption related to
illegal connections.
However,
the main concern that the water board is battling with is revenue since
there are only 260,000 people who pay their bills out of the total
population.
“The
rest have not paid water board bills for the last 25 years,” he said. He
also pointed out that KWSB’s tariff is very low. “Our system of taxes is
very irrational and this leads us towards organisational deterioration,”
he explained. Farid understands the issue can be handled by increasing the
tax net instead of increasing the tax. One of the attendees, Muhammad Ali,
was testimony to this fact. Ali, a resident of a society in Gulshan- e-Iqbal,
said his area of 100 flats was not being supplied with water but when all
the bills were cleared, their supply was resumed.
Unlike
Ali, Tehseen, a resident of Buffer Zone, complained of inflated bills. “Although
my neighbours are willing to pay the bill, they got accumulated bills
between Rs35,000 and Rs50,000. Obviously no one could pay the bill,” she
said.
Farid
responded by saying that the board is launching a new scheme to make people
pay on a monthly basis, much like the Karachi Electric Supply Company.
“The
things that are currently our top priority are our employees’ salaries,
chlorination and filtration and medical facilities,” he said.
(By
Saima Saleem, The Express Tribune, 16/06/2011)
Mass
Transit: Options, Alternatives
Study
on growth of 2-wheelers presented
Urban Resource Centre, a
non-governmental organisation held a discussion forum entitled ‘Mass
Transit: Options and Alternatives’ at its office, here on Thursday29 Sep
2011.
 Renowned
architect and planner Arif Hassan, who has already contributed in town
planning of the city and famous researcher Mansoor Raza jointly, presented
their case study on the substantial growth of two-wheeler vehicles in
Pakistani cities.
Speaking on the occasion, he informed the audience that around one million
bikes were present on the roads and the figure would cross 3,600,000 in 2030
provided its growth remains constant.
Through a detailed multimedia presentation, they explained the facts and
figures in this regard with the use of mass transits and motorcycles in the
cities like Bangkok. They described the merits and demerits of mass transit
in detail. Overall the favoured light rail and bus transit systems, instead
of private vehicles.
They said that the government was considering mass transit programmes in the
metropolis to cope with the traffic problem. They also talked about rapidly
increasing trend of motorcycling and raised a question before the audience
if it would ruin the traffic system.
They said that they compiled their study with the help of over 150 young
students of various educational institutes, of whom they took interviews and
asked to share their views and problems.
(DailyTimes-B1,
30/09/2011)
LB
system issue can be solved with consensus
Chairman Urban Resource Centre
(URC) Arif Hasan has said that the issue of local bodies (LB) system would
not be resolved until the tug-of-war over power existed, adding, that the
issue could only be solved
 with
consensus.
Delivering a lecture on ‘Local Government System in Sindh-Some Real
Issues’ at the URC office here on Tuesday 20th Dec 2011, Hasan
said that the revenue department should be exempted from political influence
in new local bodies system.
The technicalities of the system will be resolved themselves provided
consensus is developed on major issues, he added. He stressed the need for
the autonomy of revenue department as most of the land had already been
encroached.
Hasan said that the assets of the city should be for whole province and if
the province realised it, the issue would be resolved. He was of the view
that service delivery and administrative control are two different things.
Service delivery system should be autonomous while administrative system
should be under bureaucracy control.
In local bodies system, there was no system to challenge or control the
elected representatives, the URC chairman said.
Citing the studies conducted on local bodies system, he apprised that
developments had been carried out in the local bodies system by spending
huge amounts, however, the old system was not equal to local bodies in terms
of developments.
He said Karachi consumed Sindh as, according to 1998 census, it consisted of
62 percent of the urban population of entire Sindh, which has increased by
leaps and bounds now. The issue of demographic change has deteriorated
manifold, he added.
He said that the scale of demographic change in Sindh was incomparable to
anywhere else in the country. This change has created concerns for Sindhi
people in terms of culture, language, identity, control of government and
the fear of Sindh people is genuine.
(By
Haris Hanif, DailyTimes-B1, 21/12/2011)
Karachi
cannot swallow Sindh, it must learn to share, says expert
Karachi
has become too big for Sindh. It has almost eaten up the province.
These
were the words of Arif Hasan, the city’s best-known town planner, who has
also documented its demographic changes. He was speaking at a seminar
organised by the Urban Resource Centre on Tuesday at a time when the two key
coalition partners are struggling to craft a local government system that is
equally acceptable to Sindh’s urban and rural populations.
The
changing demographics of Karachi have engendered a sense of deprivation
among the Sindhis – they feel that the city is being developed at the
expense of the rest of the province, he said. “The Urdu-speaking people
feel that Tuglaq House [Sindh secretariat] is inaccessible to them and the
Sindhis don’t feel at home with local government institutions,” he
added.
The
1998 census numbers showed that the metropolis accounts for 62 per cent of
the urban population of the province.
About
70 years ago, people who spoke Sindhi, Balochi, Seraki and Gujrati made up
73 per cent of city’s population. “In 1998, that number plummeted to 13
per cent. Urdu was spoken by just six per cent back in 1941. But this figure
jumped up to 48.5 per cent in 1998,” Hasan said
He
ascribed the complexity of the problem to the migration of people from other
parts of the country. “There is no easy solution. Everyone has to make
some sort of compromise.”
He
urged schools and hospitals in Karachi that are run by the local government
to open their doors to people from rural areas without any discrimination.
“I strongly believe that municipal service delivery should be in hands of
elected mayors and councilors. But an independent bureaucracy is also needed
to keep an eye on them,” said Hasan.
Notwithstanding
the development of the city, he said there were fewer complaints of
discrimination when a city was run by administrators.
If
the developed areas of the city insist that more money be spent on them for
their contribution to taxes, then the poor localities will long for better
services, he said.
(The
Express Tribune, 21/12/2011)
Road
accidents claimed 1,100 lives last year in Karachi
Serious
flaws in infrastructure, ineffective implementation of relevant laws and
lack of awareness among people on Wednesday were cited for most of the 1,100
lives lost last year in road accidents in the city.
The
data was shared by an official, who is running a key project to monitor
different aspects of road accidents and advise measures to remove flaws,
during an interactive discussion at the Urban Resource Centre.
It
indicated a little drop in the number of fatal accidents in 2011 as compared
to previous years after the authorities concerned took certain steps though
there were several areas that still remained unaddressed.
‘There
is a National Transport Safety Board in the United States,’ said Syed
Ameer Hussain, the project manager of the Road Traffic Injury Research &
Prevention Centre.
‘We
need such a body here in our country to regulate the entire system that
ultimately aims at accidents prevention, infrastructure maintenance and
development.’
The
federal health ministry had established the Road Traffic Injury Research and
Prevention Centre at the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre in 2006. A
related road injury surveillance projectwas devised and initiated in
collaboration with the NED University of Engineering and Technology and
supported by Indus Motors.
The
centre has been involved in road traffic accident data collection and
analysis since September 2007, suggesting every possible measure to the
government bodies and people in general through different campaigns for
removal of the flaws and to ensure minimum road accident vulnerability.
During
his presentation, Mr Hussain gave the details of data his centre had been
collecting for almost five years and how it had helped in different
capacities to remove flaws in road and traffic system as well as creating
awareness among people.
Risk
factors
He
referred to some key risk factors that increased the possibilities of the
fatal road accidents manifold and also sounded cautioned on the total number
of deaths due to road accidents recorded officially across the country.
`We
have witnessed token system by private transport and non-implementation of
bus stop rules also as reasons that caused road accidents.
Use
of wrong ways, sharp curves on roads, little use of indicators by motorists
and helmets by riders are a few other reasons that lead to fatalities,` he
added.
Mr
Hussain also shared a recent report of the Punjab government Rescue 1122
citing that road accidents claimed 40 per cent of the total 160,000 killings
in Punjab.
`You
can imagine the level of work, dedication and importance this area requires.
But,
unfortunately, we don’t find the urge that is required to handle this
problem. It suggests that we don’t consider deaths due to road accidents
as dangerous as through other incidents,` he added.
According
to the World Health Organisation, 1.3 million people died of road accidents
every year in the world and the region, where Pakistan was situated, was on
the top in terms of fatalities due to road accidents, he added.
`The
WHO in collaboration with the United Nations has recently launched a
programme called Decade of Action for Road Safety 20112020. And the fears
are high that if we don’t move with the required pace and measures to
address the road accidents menace, the global number of fatalities could
jump up to five million,` he said, apprehending that in that case, we would
be among the major losers.
(Daily
Dawn 19 January 2012)
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