Jurisdiction clash: Pehlwan Goth’s main road unclaimed by two cantonments

KARACHI:

The main thoroughfare of Pehlwan Goth is unclaimed by the two cantonments it borders, which means that its upkeep pays the price of a jurisdiction clash.

“The pavement of the dual-carriage road passing through the area started in year 2005 but it was never completed,” said a resident, Zaki, as he came out of a polling station in Sindh Baloch Society after casting his vote. “The reason behind the lingering development work was that Faisal cantonment did not own both sides of the road,” he explained. Apparently, the other side of the road fell within the jurisdiction of Malir Cantonment.

Consequently, Pehlwan Goth — a slum area in Gulistan-e-Jauhar — suffers from municipal issues, such as brimming gutters, shortage of potable water, dilapidated streets and others.

Only two candidates, one each from Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), vied the polls. “Although the problems are gigantic, I will do my best to resolve them if I am elected,” vowed PML-N candidate Faishur Rehman.

Close to one of the city’s largest seminaries, Ashraful Madaris, was the JI camp in which a few female and some male workers were sitting. A young group of JI activists were also preparing for a motorcycle survey of the area. A worker felt the voter turnout was low as the parties weren’t given enough time to run their campaigns.

A chief polling officer of the Tahirul Qadri-led Pakistan Awami Tehrik, Afsheen Asif, complained of mismanagement in the polling booths. “At some places, two polling stations were merged into one,” she said. “So, at the eleventh hour, we had to shuffle our agents.”

The entire Faisal Cantonment comprises 10 wards (constituencies) spread over Drigh Colony, CAA Colony, Malir Halt, Askari IV and many areas of Gulistan-e-Jauhar.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 26^th, 2015.