The City Government's budget

Presenting the City District Government Karachi's Rs 42.971 billion, development-oriented budget, for 2005-06, with a surplus of Rs 179.76 million, before the City Council, on April 30, City Nazim Naimatullah Khan claimed with a sense of understandable pride that the civic body's performance during the last three and half years was unmatched in the history of the metropolis. As he pointed out, when he took over as the Nazim, the infrastructure of the city was in ruins with dilapidated roads, broken sewerage and water lines, thereby depicting a squalid picture of Karachi. Nobody in his right senses would disagree with the Nazim on this count, for it will be seen as representing the commonly shared view of the city-dwellers of every description. That the City Government has put in a lot of effort in removing this stigma will leave little to doubt either.
The zeal with which the local government representatives devoted themselves to the challenging task has been duly acknowledged by the people in general. As for Naimatullah's claim that Karachi has been turned into a developed city, it will certainly sound as overblown. It is, however, another matter that many may be inclined to overlook it as an election year overstatement.
Of course, the major thrust of the budget is on development, accounting for Rs 20 billion, as it ought to have been, in view of the trend depicted in the previous years. The total outlay now of Rs 42.791 billion, is much higher, as the City Nazim recalled, than what it used to be during the defunct KMC's budgets. As against that the City Government's Rs 22 billion budget, in its first year, gradually rose to Rs 27 billion in the second year and to Rs 32 billion in the last year. While dilating upon the improvements over the past years, the Nazim also pointed to the absence of any new taxes, despite proportionate increases in development funds. All this is quite laudable, but reference should also have been made to the errors, omissions and shortcomings, with regard to the tasks, hastily taken up and similarly accomplished, evidently, from a populist political thrust.
Mention may be made in this regard, among other lapses, of the hastily constructed overhead bridge at the Federal Urdu University, at the heels of a ghastly traffic accident. Obviously, inspired by an understandable urge to avert similar disasters, it has proved unsuitable for that purpose.
For, as has been the case with certain overhead bridges earlier constructed, it remains largely unused by the pedestrians, simply for the inconvenience it means for many of them, the aged in particular.
Moreover potholes appearing in certain flyovers, could have been averted through greater care and strict monitoring of construction.
It will also be noted that Tameer-e-Karachi Programme has received special attention, with Rs 6,000 million earmarked for roads, bridges, flyovers, drainage systems, preparation of master plan, solid waste management and some other works, and Rs 400 million have been allocated for development and improvement of inter-city towns and union council roads and intersections.
Moreover, Rs 160 million will be spent on improvement and maintenance of roads, footpaths, culverts, etc, Rs 150 million on development works of Community Citizens Boards, Rs 130 million on inter-towns roads, Rs 100 million on Karachi Institute of Heart Diseases, Rs 100 million on Karachi Medical and Dental College, Rs 88 million on development works, proposed by lady city councillors, Rs 80 million on construction of inter-city bus terminal, and Rs 79.25 million on fire tenders and other equipment.
However, understandable should be the discordant note the City Nazim sounded over the dispute with the provincial government on the release of funds under the Tameer-e-Karachi Programme. Needless to point out, without the resolution of the issue, it may become not only difficult for CDGK to fulfil its obligations to the people of Karachi, and diversion of funds under this programme to any other agency may lead to unnecessary duplication, thereby jeopardising the efforts of the City Government.