NA-248 voters willing to vote on promises for clean drinking water

PPP has emerged victorious from the constituency of Lyari Town since 1967.

KARACHI:

“Every day I fill two to three vessels of water from this mosque. Though it is not potable water, we mix it with the sweet water purchased from the market to give it to our children,” said Husna Baloch, a resident of the Shah Baig Lane, Lyari.

Husna lives in the densely populated area of the city, which falls under the constituency of NA-248 - the seat from which Benazir Bhutto claimed her first victory in politics in 1988 as a National Assembly member. But even before Benazir’s time, PPP had been sweeping the Lyari seat since its formation in 1967. Residents express an unconditional love for Benazir but have often been neglected when it comes to development and security.



According to Husna, they have not received tap water for the last 15 years. “Most of the women in my neighbourhood go to the main water tank, which is around half a kilometre away, to fetch water. But the task is time consuming as waiting in the line for their turn can take up to two hours,” she said, adding that sometimes the women come back with empty vessels.

Poor living conditions

One would assume the residents of Lyari - a hub of gang wars - would be more annoyed with the law and order situation in the constituency, but Husna is more concerned about the more basic necessities, such as water. “We have become used to the warfare, we don’t care what happens anymore - what we care most about is clean drinking water,” she said, adding that every election, the candidates knock on their doors for votes and promise them drinking water. “But the promises are all made in vain. We will vote for only those who can supply us with drinking water.”

The Lyari General Hospital is often listed by PPP as one of its government’s accomplishments but even the medical institution is facing water shortage, leaving patients to drink water from the taps in the hospital’s toilets. “Some people go across the road for water, but others like me, get drinking water from this toilet,” Ahmed Baloch told The Express Tribune while filling a bottle from the overflowing taps in the hospital where his father was admitted. “The hospital administration said that the Karachi water board has stopped the supply and due to financial constraints, they cannot arrange water tankers.”

The streets and roads are also covered with garbage and overflowing gutters.

Love-hate relationship

The previous elected representatives of NA-248 include PPP’s Saleem Hingoro, (late) Rafique Engineer, Abdul Khaliq Juma, Asif Ali, Waja Kareem Dad and Nabeel Gabol.



Even though the residents are still struggling to live a better quality of life after PPP’s five-year tenure, the party’s nominees are once again strong candidates. Saleem Hingoro, who was elected twice as MPA from PS-108, told The Express Tribune that the outgoing government allocated around Rs3.7 billion for Lyari and also provided four river osmosis plants to provide potable water. He listed the construction of the Shaheed Benazirabad Medical College, football ground, stadium and parks in Lyari as accomplishments during PPP’s time. “We have also provided jobs to unemployed youth. What else can we do in such a short span of time in the area which has been neglected by all successive government?”

PPP’s former member and two-time winner from NA-248, Nabeel Gabol, is contesting on the Muttahida Qaumi Movement’s ticket in the upcoming elections. The PPP has nominated Shah Jahan Baloch - the only candidate in Sindh contesting the general elections from prison. He is facing murder charges in the Arshad Pappu case, the Lyari gangster who was kidnapped and killed in 2013.

According to PPP Karachi secretary-general Najmi Alam, Baloch’s election campaign has been going on in full swing and his imprisonment has not hampered his spirit. “In the past, many leaders have won the election from jail. Mir Murtaza Bhutto had also contested the election when he was in self-imposed exile and returned to the country after the election.”



Nevertheless, the emergence of the Peoples Amn Committee (PAC) will be a game changer in this constituency as the PAC candidates have won PPP tickets but their allegiance lies with their chief, Uzair Baloch, who vehemently denies his support for the PPP.

Areas and voting trends of NA-248

NA-248 in district South is home to people from different backgrounds - Rangiwara, Singho Lane, Chakiwara, Bakra Piri, Shah Baig Lane, Baghdadi, Kalri and Nawabad are dominated by the Baloch, Agra Taj Colony, Daryabad and Khada Market by the Sindhi/Kutchi community and Urdu-speaking are in majority in Bihar Colony.

Correction: Earlier version of the story incorrectly stated that Rafique Engineer was from MQM.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 7^th, 2013.