Slip-sliding away
The incredible number of landslides, large and small, throughout the Murree area in the wake of unprecedented monsoon rains, demonstrates how dangerous the Galiyat region has become. Illegal construction, much of it done on the cheap, scars the landscape. The Punjab government imposed a complete ban on the construction of high-rise buildings in this geologically fragile area seven years ago but, as always, the ban is ignored or negotiated into oblivion. The sad fact that Shahbaz Sharif himself is reportedly involved in the construction of a multi-storey hotel in Jhika Gali belies the fact that everyone is supposedly equal in the eyes of the law in Pakistan. Promulgating laws that are broken by the instigator of the same is a waste of time and financial resources which are badly needed elsewhere.
The resulting mess – some new constructions boasting in excess of 10 floors – is a catastrophe waiting to happen and, what’s more, could happen at any second. No serious attempt, let alone an honest one, will be made to bring this environmental blitz into line until after the entire can of worms has slip-slided into oblivion, killing countless innocent people in the process.
Building laws are lax and rarely enforced by inspectors. Grossly inadequate foundations, mediocre sewage disposal arrangements, if any, along with criminally unsafe cement mixtures are a potent recipe for disaster and the nefarious ‘contractors’ who cobble together these death traps do not limit their expertise to Murree itself. Outside the city limits, often alongside narrow link roads and therefore out of sight to many, are a whole host of building projects ranging from multi-storey apartment blocks and summer ‘palaces’ down to small homes built for local people, precariously balanced on the side of death defying, precipitous mountain slopes some of which slide in even moderate rain or thawing snow. Sewage, like waste water, percolates downhill and this is exactly what happens in the majority of cases. No thought is given to how such effluent pollutes the land and forest below nor to the long-term build up of ‘soggy soil’ which will, once it exceeds a certain weight on a steep slope, slide downhill, possibly taking its offending source with it. Before this can happen, however, these illegally built monstrosities must be supplied with water which, as year round residents know to their cost, has a serious habit of disappearing entirely for weeks, even months, on end.
Few rural locations in the Galiyat region have access to public water supplies, relying instead on temperamental springs and streams, the majority of which are polluted with human waste as a percentage of houses still do not have bathrooms. These water sources, inadequate as they already are, are not able to cope with additional demands from new buildings such as apartment blocks seasonally inhabited by a segment of society who refuse to understand that water conservation is a basic requirement of existence.
The galloping exploitation, in all its guises, of a once beautiful region, some of which is still covered by reserve forests although these are disappearing fast, needs to be brought to a complete halt on an emergency basis. Existing laws must be enforced without exception, stringent measures pertaining to environmental conservation introduced and, above all, new construction, whether undertaken by incomers or local residents themselves, stopped forthwith.
Published in The Express Tribune, August 8th, 2010.
The resulting mess – some new constructions boasting in excess of 10 floors – is a catastrophe waiting to happen and, what’s more, could happen at any second. No serious attempt, let alone an honest one, will be made to bring this environmental blitz into line until after the entire can of worms has slip-slided into oblivion, killing countless innocent people in the process.
Building laws are lax and rarely enforced by inspectors. Grossly inadequate foundations, mediocre sewage disposal arrangements, if any, along with criminally unsafe cement mixtures are a potent recipe for disaster and the nefarious ‘contractors’ who cobble together these death traps do not limit their expertise to Murree itself. Outside the city limits, often alongside narrow link roads and therefore out of sight to many, are a whole host of building projects ranging from multi-storey apartment blocks and summer ‘palaces’ down to small homes built for local people, precariously balanced on the side of death defying, precipitous mountain slopes some of which slide in even moderate rain or thawing snow. Sewage, like waste water, percolates downhill and this is exactly what happens in the majority of cases. No thought is given to how such effluent pollutes the land and forest below nor to the long-term build up of ‘soggy soil’ which will, once it exceeds a certain weight on a steep slope, slide downhill, possibly taking its offending source with it. Before this can happen, however, these illegally built monstrosities must be supplied with water which, as year round residents know to their cost, has a serious habit of disappearing entirely for weeks, even months, on end.
Few rural locations in the Galiyat region have access to public water supplies, relying instead on temperamental springs and streams, the majority of which are polluted with human waste as a percentage of houses still do not have bathrooms. These water sources, inadequate as they already are, are not able to cope with additional demands from new buildings such as apartment blocks seasonally inhabited by a segment of society who refuse to understand that water conservation is a basic requirement of existence.
The galloping exploitation, in all its guises, of a once beautiful region, some of which is still covered by reserve forests although these are disappearing fast, needs to be brought to a complete halt on an emergency basis. Existing laws must be enforced without exception, stringent measures pertaining to environmental conservation introduced and, above all, new construction, whether undertaken by incomers or local residents themselves, stopped forthwith.
Published in The Express Tribune, August 8th, 2010.