Larkana, a city that fell short of becoming Sindh’s Paris

Poor progress of development projects keeps Bhutto’s hometown in shambles

LARKANA:

'Hujaee nano ta ghum Larkano [if you have the money, then visit Larkana]' is a popular Sindhi saying which does not apply to the city anymore. In fact, dejected residents now say: 'Hujaee nano ta chadd Larkano [if you have the money, then leave Larkana]'.

Since the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) came into power in 2008, Larkana - the hometown of PPP founders, the Bhuttos - has been showered with several multi-billion-rupee projects. These included a drainage improvement programme and several special grants but have yet to bring any visible improvements to the city's infrastructure.

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Residents of Dari Muhalla, a supposedly posh area, spend most of their time draining out sewerage water from their houses. "The sewer passing in front of my house is at a level higher than my house," said resident Taj Muhammad Shaikh. "Every other day, the sewage enters my house. It gets worse in the rainy season."

According to Shaikh, the faulty drainage system was laid down by a company that carried out development work in the city in 2009-10 without hiring any consulting firm.

The situation is similar in other parts of the city, such as Lahori Muhalla, Karma Bagh, Sachal Colony and Shaikh Zaid Colony. Overflowing gutters, unpaved roads and garbage piles are a common sight for visitors to the city, which is home to the ancient archaeological site of Moen Jo Daro.

The poor condition of the city is, however, not due to a lack of development projects. "This road has been built more than three times in the last seven years," said Waheed Bukhari, a resident of Rahmatput Muhalla, pointing to the main road in his neighbourhood. "But, within a year of its construction, traffic cannot ply on it." The problem, it appears, is the poor quality of material used in development.



Targets missed

Residents recall the famous words of PPP founder Zulfikar Ali Bhutto who had promised in the 1970s to "convert Larkana into Paris". His daughter, Benazir Bhutto, made the same promise after his death. "My father's dream will come true. I assure you that the destiny of Larkana will change and we will make it into Paris," she had said.

During the tenure of General (retd) Pervez Musharraf, a 'Green and Clean Larkana' package worth Rs97 million was announced in 2005 for the beautification of the city. A majority of the funds were allegedly embezzled by local officers.

After Benazir's death, the PPP came into power in 2008 and it allocated billions of rupees to Larkana but the actual utilisation of funds is a different story altogether. "If only those Rs2 billion had been used properly, the citizens would have gotten great relief," said former PPP MPA Haji Munwar Ali Abbasi, who hails from Larkana.

Failed scheme

Initially, the Larkana Priority and Drainage Improvement Programme worth Rs900 million was announced in 2009-10 to dispose of 20 million gallons of waste per day. The project involved construction of oxidation ponds and lagoons for waste water treatment.

"The tender [for the project] was awarded to a company that preferred minting money instead of laying down a proper drainage system," complained Abbasi. "This drainage project hardly ran for a few months until it choked the entire sewerage system."

As part of the project, the government also had to install a plant to treat sewage water before it is disposed of into various channels, according to documents available with The Express Tribune. Instead, untreated sewage water of nearly 1.5 million people is released into a sweet water canal, Rice Canal, which is the main source of water for people and livestock in the tail-end areas.



Bungled money

After the failure of the Larkana Priority and Drainage Improvement Programme, the Sindh government introduced the Larkana Development Package worth Rs1.1 billion in 2010-11 and it was later revised to Rs1.4 billion.

These enormous funds' allocation landed the government in trouble when Qadir Bhatti, a senior lawyer, went to Sindh High Court's Larkana bench and claimed that government officials bungled Rs80 billion from the funds allocated in the name of Larkana development between 2008 and 2015. The court told the city administration to avoid disposing of drainage into Rice Canal and utilise the funds allocated to fix Larkana's drainage system.

"The yearly budget allocation is merely to eyewash the residents," said Bhatti. "I have challenged the district administration to explain how they spent the huge amount."

PPP MPA Khursheed Junejo, who has served as Larkana's district nazim, defended his government. "We have transformed [Larkana] by removing encroachments, building roads and initiating mega health and education schemes," he claimed before accepting that sewage continues to be disposed into Rice Canal.

Meanwhile, Larkana commissioner Ghulam Akbar Leghari, who has been appointed project director for the drainage programme, did not respond to requests for comments.

The public health department's executive engineer, Abdul Wahab Sahto, who executes the drainage programme, said they will set up oxidation ponds across the city to treat sewage and then dispose it into canals. "We have decided to dispose of the city's waste in scrap canals rather than the Rice Canal," he said.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 2^nd, 2016.