An ordained Karachi
Demolition of Karachi’s Nasla Tower on the orders of the Supreme Court has set a great precedent. It has come as a warning to those who flout laws. Likewise, the registration of cases against all the concerned is a corrective measure, and was warranted under all norms of legality. Karachi Police finally put its foot down as it booked the builder for the illegally raised superstructure, as well as officials of various civic agencies and departments. The dye has been cast, and now it is incumbent upon the authorities concerned to pursue the charges, and ensure that retribution.
The Supreme Court deserves all praise for closely monitoring the civic mosaic of Karachi. It has ruled against encroachments, sought to obtain a master plan for the metropolitan of 25 million, and at the same time has come down hard on officials and elected office-bearers for taking Karachiites on a ride. This has made a lot of difference, and the prime of it is that the provincial government and the civic bodies’ heads are in the dock pleading their side of the story. The court is squarely concerned over the despicable state of civic amenities, and its castigation is a charge sheet against the ruling elite.
Nasla Tower has come as a test case of building violations in rogue. Brought up in a dare-devil manner after encroaching 341 square yards of a service road, the project was a manifest of embedded corruption in our civic bodies’ rank and file. And, surely, it is not the only — and the last — such project to be raised in contravention of established norms. The city’s landscape has many such black holes. Of course, the provincial bureaucracy and the political wheeler-dealers cannot be absolved, too.
Karachi is in need of lawful governance and judicious distribution of resources. Its yester-decades civic sense has gone missing, and today it is no more than a haphazard concrete jungle devoid of basic amenities. What started as a suo motu action to look into encroachments has now successfully graduated into a doctrine of necessity to save and resurrect Karachi. The initiative is laudable, and shouldn’t be lost.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 31st, 2021.
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