The writer is professor of political science at LUMS
The city or urban life has produced culture, knowledge, science, technology and everything that is part of civilisation. The best, liveable countries around the world are known and admired for many things that they have done for their citizens and humanity at large. The centrepiece of their success is that they have made city life comfortable and enjoyable. City leaders constantly think of parks and trees and try to preserve what is natural along with creating a balance between natural resources and development. Our country and we, unfortunately, cannot compare with any other country in the world for the low levels that we have touched in every aspect of life from material to spiritual.
Sadly, we can mourn the slow death of every city of Pakistan from Karachi to Peshawar. Rapacious politicians, bureaucrats, mafias, gangs, encroachers and greedy developers have destroyed our cities by turning the law on its head. In this piece, I just confine to mourning the slow death of the capital, Islamabad. Any nation would have been very proud of the natural endowment of Islamabad — green hills, natural streams, good quality of soil and the variety of trees and flowers that one can grow. Had this city been in a better-governed state and a more civilised society, we would have seen cafes, parks, bicycle tracks, walking and jogging trails and forests around the streams from beginning to the end.
Instead, what we see today is that the streams are full of stinking raw sewerage, garbage and pieces of plastic and polythene bags floating. The stench is all over the streets and areas close to the streams that were once full of wild fish and colourful birds hovering over the mulberry, kachnar and phulai trees. How has this happened and what can be done? First, it is our citizens — educated and affluent, who are discharging raw sewer into the stormwater lines ending in the streams. I can personally show hundreds of such households in my neighbourhood. Bigger than this is the issue of the Air Force, Naval sectors and E-11, the Police Foundation and many other now “legalised” colonies that have no sewerage system of their own and throw everything into the streams. The Diplomatic Enclave and Quaid-i-Azam University — with better-educated men and women — are releasing sewerage into streams ending up in the Rawal dam. At the north-eastern end of the city, Bharakoh settlements that are now moving up to the Margalla hills pollute the streams and the dam. This has happened with the collapse of the Capital Development Authority and due to its capture by fortune seekers. The story of Lahore and other cities releasing raw sewage into the rivers — the once historic Ravi — is no different.
What can be done? First, stop the outsiders — politicians and bureaucrats — from ruining Islamabad. Second, take the CDA and every other polluter of streams to the courts. Finally, let us volunteer to restore nature by reviving the natural streams of the city — one at a time, with sustainable efforts.
Endnote: May I request the Supreme Court of Pakistan to take a suo-motu action on the city streams issue?
Published in The Express Tribune, July 2nd, 2013.
Like Opinion & Editorial on Facebook, follow @ETOpEd on Twitter to receive all updates on all our daily pieces.
COMMENTS (11)
Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.
For more information, please see our Comments FAQ
yeah. v have one. i dont know y u cant c it. be optimistic bro
This is really a fantastic write-up regarding the conservation of natural streams in Pakistan; there are many more other as well. As River Indus have many big and small cities on its both banks. The bigger cities are Sukkur and Hyderabad. But unfortunately filthy or sewerage water of both cities are flowing in the river at upper side and lower side water supplies pipes are collecting water for human consumption. This is really dangerous for human health. And those cities, towns, villages or small populations where ground water is brackish and using river or canal water are really drinking poison.
it is an exclusive article but cannot be realistics,hard to avoid from pollution. we are eating mud and ountains
i was in Gopis once four years ago and their was this beatiful lake with crystal clear water and you can see it was full of trout....becuase locals will only catch the fish when they will eat it and only the bigger ones... they wont allow any of the local to catch it for selling in Gilgit...what a community and it was only made possible becuase of the awareness ....i just wonder why so called educated people of Islamabad cant learn it.
I live in NPF. What can an individual household do on it's own? Where does waste water from your house go? If there really is something that households can and should be doing at the individual level; that needs to be spelled out.
I would have thought this is entirely government responsibility. We can't build our own sewerage system individually.
Supreme Court? Do we have one?
The environmental decay and slow death of cities of Pakistan and India is so unfortunate. Ardeshir Cowasji kept on warning in his Dawn columns. Some how it is taking too long to solve the problems because of other priorities. Shame on us.
In Islamabad, all are outsiders, no one is indegenious -----------so people are buying plots, farms in mountains and making them dirty. You cannot change the psyche of the people, but only through genuine brought up and education, in the west these things are taought in their schools. And waht we teach our generation at schools, college and uni's????????/
Couldn't agree more. Islamabad has become more and more polluted as the years have gone by. I wasn't there in the 70's but certainly it was a wonderful place to live in the 80's. Islamabad's original infrastructure, roads and sewerage/water lines were never meant to cope with this explosive population growth. Roads have been improved but water and sewerage have not. Hence the use of tube wells for water and dumping of waste directly in to the streams, resulting in a noxious cesspit.
During a visit to Canada, I was surprised to hear that streams running through a major city were full of fish. People could literally walk to the river for fishing or do so from their backyard. Same is true for Cambridge, with the River Cam running through the city, with the river full of trout.
Oh well, if the waters were that clean here, the fish would have been eaten long ago anyway. When people fish with electric current or hand grenades (thank you Pak Army), even the young ones don't survive and fish population is decimated. This happens in places like Swat or other remote areas. Sad but true.
Fantastic piece! I completely agree with you. We should be imposing fines on such households and communities and encouraging local schools to get involved in the process of cleaning up our streets. Perhaps this would also give future generations a stake in preserving this city.
Fantastic piece! I completely agree with you. We should be imposing fines on such households and communities and encouraging local schools to get involved in the process of cleaning up our streets. Perhaps this would also give future generations a stake in preserving this city.