City on islands

The announcement by the federal government to build a new city on the twin islands of Dingi and Bhandar along Karachi coast seems to be made for the consumption of some particular groups of people, since it has met with stiff opposition from the Sindh government and the province’s civil society. Ismail Rahoo, a provincial minister, says the federal government cannot undertake construction work on lands under the jurisdiction of provincial governments without the concurrence of the latter. He has contended that the Centre’s proposal is in violation of both the Constitution and laws governing rights of nations over islands. Under international conventions, provinces are the rightful owners of islands and sea resources within 12 nautical miles off their coasts.

Civil society members have also come out in opposition, expressing fears that the proposed city would deprive 800,000 fishermen residing on these isles of livelihood and further impoverish the already poor fishermen and other residents. They are afraid that the proposed construction would also destroy the mangrove forests spread over thousands of acres on the islands. Their fears about destruction of mangroves are not unfounded as mangroves’ obliteration would result in multiple dangers. Mangroves help protect coastal areas from tsunami and other such threats. Their destruction will further upset an already deranged ecology. These forests serve as nurseries of fish and shrimps and creeks from Karachi to Thatta as fishing areas, so their disappearance would only result in miseries for residents of the islands. Civil society members are also critical of the proposed setting up of the Pakistan Islands Development Authority in connection with construction of the planned city and other such constructions.

The plan to build a new city defies comprehension since the authorities have failed to provide basic necessities to the already existing cities. Haphazard actions don’t bring results. Such actions could be cited as a bad example.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 17^th, 2020.

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