Running water fountains

Islamabad’s administrators should have noted rest of country’s power problems and never continued with such a project.

At a time when the country is going through a power crisis, one of the last things we should be trying to figure out is how we can run water fountains. Even though Islamabad runs on rules different from the rest of the country, having finances available that are denied to everyone else, for the last four years, it has been unable to provide the power needed to run most of the eight fountains installed in the capital city. This is because the Project Management Office, which was responsible for having first initiated and then completed this costly, yet pointless, project never got permission for doing so from the Capital Development Authority (CDA). This project is one of those white elephants so beloved of cities that are unable to provide basic services to citizens but love showing off things that are of no value to anyone.

The only reason the fountains do not have power provided to them is because all the correct paperwork was not filed. Had it been done so, the city would have been happy to give scarce electricity to run them. This is reminiscent of the Musharraf era, when the government boasted of having built one of Asia’s largest fountains in Karachi at a time when the power crisis was at its worst. Such luxury projects should not even be considered at a time when necessities like a regular supply of power cannot be provided to the country’s citizens. The CDA has tried to get the Finance Directorate to provide the funds to complete the fountains and get them running but has been rebuffed so far.

An investigation needs to be carried out to find out the individuals responsible for approving this project and having the fountains built. Islamabad’s administrators should have noted the rest of the country’s power problems and never continued with such a wasteful project and they would do well to consider public opinion on such matters in the future.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 18^th, 2013.