Karachi Political Diary

 Karachi Political Diary 

 Mubasher Mir

Since the formation of Pakistan, the city of Karachi has been expanding in a very strange way, where hundreds of slums have also been settled. For the past several years, efforts have been made to correct the town planning of this city, but stakeholders rarely agree on any one point. There was a lot of delay on the Lyari Expressway, but it has not yet been able to play a role in reducing the heavy traffic of the city. Similarly, the Northern Bypass is not of such a quality that the heavy traffic of Karachi Port can make it its passage. Now the Malir Expressway has been started, the first section of which was inaugurated by Bilawal Bhutto Zardari and this 9-kilometer road was named Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto Expressway. On this occasion, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari called it the most important in the development works of Karachi. A few days ago, he was announcing in Sukkur that the federal government and especially the PML-N’s thinking about motorways and metros is limited, now he himself has called the highway an important milestone.

However, it is necessary to understand that roads, railways, airlines, shipping and internet in telecommunications are all important sectors, all are important in their own place, none is less. For fast-paced development, it is necessary to connect all of them with the latest system. Circular railway is very important among the postponed projects of Karachi city, to start it, the federal and provincial as well as the Karachi city government should also intensify efforts. Now it seems that there should be a railway track on the Karachi-Hyderabad motorway because new cities are being built here. In the near future, a large population of Karachi city will move here, for which only the passenger train can provide cheap travel. If the government is interested, a consortium of new housing schemes to be built on the motorway can be organized, which can lay the railway track in collaboration with the federal and provincial governments, this can be a wonderful project of the future.

The first Governors Conference was held at the Governor House Sindh, in which the importance of making the constitutional role of the Governor effective was emphasized. The country has a parliamentary system in which the President in the federation and the Governor in the provinces perform their duties as the representative of the state. Looking at the economic condition of Pakistan, we can say that we cannot afford to run a large administrative system, for this it is necessary that the country has to spend immense resources in the administrative sector, which should be relieved. At present, these positions are often given not for the balance of power between political parties but to convey interests. The position of Governor seems to be redundant, the Governor of Sindh has successfully tried to use it in the public interest with his expertise, for which he has received public recognition.

Pakistan should create new provinces and have only elected provincial chief executives, while the country is in dire need of an effective local government system. Political parties should make serious efforts to make urban governance effective to involve the people in power.

Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif visited Karachi and appreciated the performance of the stock exchange. The market was showing a negative trend on the arrival of the Prime Minister, but the index crossing the psychological threshold of one lakh in this entire year is a milestone, but the market volume is still very small because the value of the domestic currency is very low compared to the dollar. But the active and dynamic stock market is welcome.

The Prime Minister must surely realize that the industry is facing a very difficult time due to the high electricity and gas prices, while the domestic consumers have been hit hard by inflation. Although interest rates have come down, construction and real estate are not yet fully operational. Pakistan needs a coherent economic plan, but this is possible only when there is political stability in the country and all political parties come together to create a coherent economy. So far, the talks between the government and the opposition have been volatile. Democracy will flourish only when the importance of the opposition is recognized and public opinion is respected.

Although Bilawal Bhutto Zardari criticized the federation on the occasion of the inauguration of Shahrah Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto and said that Sindh is being treated like a stepmother. The PPP is inquiring about the canal project from the federation, but the nationalist parties of Sindh are suspicious of the PPP and are openly criticizing that the PPP is apparently criticizing the federation regarding the Cholistan Canal, but in reality it has given its tacit consent to the federation. Shah Mehmood Qureshi has also addressed the PPP from jail that if you have any objection to the canal project, you should separate from the government alliance.

It is very difficult for the PPP to succeed in this style of politics. In Sindh, it has to remain in government at all costs, so it can only be a friendly opposition, but the Prime Minister is in his position with their votes. In reality, there is no threat to either of these parties from each other except  PTI, they are just playing a friendly match with each other.

Bilawal Bhutto Zardari must be aware that Karachi’s number one problem is access to clean water. All the claims made about water supply have not been proven true. The tanker mafia has the support of influential political figures, unless the Sindh government cleans it up, it will not get public acceptance. Justice will have to be worked on to fix the water distribution system. If a particular area and group is being provided facilities above merit, then this system will never be right.

If Bilawal Bhutto Zardari wants to win the hearts of the people of Karachi, he should play a role in solving the water problem, otherwise his statements will not be of any benefit. Water is a profitable business in Karachi city, but it can only be run under the patronage of some people from the Water Board. An effort should be made to break the network of such people, only then will the people get real benefits.