Saturday, April 10, 2010

Do we even have roads?


There are quite a few theories behind what would qualify a city to be called a metropolitan city but it is safe to say that Karachi passes through flying colors to be given the prestigious right of being in this ever expanding list. According to a table I found on Wikipedia, Karachi is ranked the 20th most populated city in the world having a population density of 10,727 (people/km2). Even if these figures are not accurate, this shows that Karachi is no small city by any definition. Then why does our infrastructure foster riots, dissatisfaction, insecurity and a general feeling of dread?

METROPOLITAN CITY RANKINGS

One cannot deny the fact that our latest city nazim made dramatic improvements within our beloved city, most notably in our transportation system. But shouldn't have all these upgrades and new roads been a constant endeavor of our government? Many people may argue that we are on the right track but then answer me this, why now and what will ensure that we do not lose our track again?

Roads, traffic, water, electricity, security, cooking gas, sewerage...name one utility in Karachi that is not suffering. Why? Simply because we choose to keep sleeping till it became an absolute necessary...the government woke up when it realized that there was no gas in their mansions to heat their teas, or water to take their baths (I predict it's a monthly activity).

No area, no income class, no education class is safe from the horrors of Karachi. The prestigious DHA can be better called Destructive Housing Authority with roads being dug up because they have nothing better to do. Malir has water shortages and Gulistan-E-Johar has no electricity.

Though our generation has very little hand in the predicament we are in, this attitude will keep us from progressing. So how about we try saving some electricity by not turning on excessive lights or fans, how about using water wisely and lets try to dispose our waste properly rather than dropping it in an open sewage.

I sincerely believe that we are a very hardworking and intelligent nation that can achieve anything that we set our minds too. I just hope we open our eyes before it is too late.

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