I am thoroughly disgusted at the official half-truths and the sensational speculation of the public about who, how and why the PNS Mehran base was attacked on May 22. Issues that affect ordinary people are being continuously sidelined while the whole nation is focused on such issues as the killing of Osama bin Laden and the strike on Mehran base.
Compared to the many life-threatening issues confronting Karachi on a daily basis, these other high-profile incidents are non-issues. They are not the reason why the city continues to suffer power shortage and outage; why the shortage of drinking water is not addressed; why the price of essential foods like flour and sugar continue to rise; why the roads are unsafe at any time of day or night. These issues that have made life unlivable in peace and security are ignored.
It almost seems as if the government is glad that major focus is on non-issues rather than on their incompetence to alleviate the real problems of the city. Compared to the rest of the country, all people's problems are magnified tenfold in Karachi. Other cities have the same problems but nothing as devastating as the same in Karachi.
But atleast the public protests about most issues. The one which is said to take the most life and is peculiar to Karachi is however not voiced. It is the question of traffic congestion caused by an annual increase of thousands of vehicles on the city roads and the issue of road deaths caused by congestion, mugging, theft at gunpoint of vehicles in broad daylight, lack of footpaths thus exposing pedestrians to dangers of walking amidst heavy fast-moving vehicles, and so forth.
Last week the home department announced a ban on heavy vehicles movement on Karachi roads between 10 pm and 6 am. Actually this is not a new ban, it has been there since time immemorable, but it is so ineffective that occasionally the Sindh home department thinks it is its duty to re-announce it. The ban has been extended for 60 days only with effect from May 22.
It means the heavy vehicles can come back roaring at all hours of day or night, occupying all traffic lanes and terrorising the other road users with their unsafe load of containers that have been known to slip their lock and kill people. This is, I presume not allowed for 60 days.
The reason for 60 day limit is that the ban is imposed under section 144 of the criminal procedure code (CrPC). The only sane thing about the ban, this time, is that it is extended to include movement of dumper trucks and water tankers. These vehicles, including buses are also killers on the roads of Karachi.
Earlier in May, at a programme held at Governor's House doctors, engineers and social workers pointed out that Pakistan has one of the highest incidents of road fatalities per 10,000 vehicles in the world. The programme marked the global launch of the Decade of Action Plan for Road Safety. Road safety is a world-wide issue, annually 1.3 million deaths and between 20 to 25 million injuries are caused by poor road regulations, poor maintenance of vehicles, lack of safety features in small cars in poor countries and, of course, rash driving. That is the global picture but in Karachi the deaths and injuries on roads are also caused by the poor law and order, the rioting and road blocks and thughs operating like pirates on the "high seas" of Karachi traffic.
This is a laudable project, but its success is doubtful while its potential failure is inevitable. I am not being pessimistic, the ground reality is that a good action plan based on sound sophisticated technical know how alone will not solve Karachi's problem.
The reasons for failure are many and include, above all, the self-importance of VIPs who are seen as more important than the common man and for whom massive measure for their safety on roads is undertaken.
When President Zardari visits police cordons are set up in a five-mile radius round Bilawal House. The ensuing traffic jams, hours of traffic hold up to allow free movement of the VIPs, the road rage it causes is experienced by every road user.
The other hurdle is the officiousness of officialdom. On the one hand they set up pickets on roads to harass innocent motorcyclists and minivan drivers to make a profit in the name of a chalaan. On the other hand they let buses drive along at speeds beyond, way beyond, the stipulated speed limit for public vehicles and look the other way when the car driver is being robbed at gun point right under their noses at traffic signals.
Another hurdle is the constant massive increase of thousands of vehicles throwing out of kilter all traffic management plans. The number of cars and motorcycles on Karachi roads upsets all calculation. There is also the attitude of the motorcyclists and car drivers. They simply do not believe in traffic rules. In fact they do not know the rules. Take a small point: how many people know the whole of Karachi is a silent zone where you cannot blow the horn? Surprised?
Yet another hurdle is the chronic encroachment of footpaths by vendors as well as for car parking. Besides footpaths even the road space is narrowed by parked vehicles and pushcarts in all market areas and commercial centres. I think the global Decade of Action Plan for Road Safety (2011 to 2020) will go the way of the millennium development goals (MDG). That was also a decade-long programme that started with the first year of the 21st century.
In Pakistan not a thing was achieved. There were grand plans and high hopes but nothing came of it. The road safety decade is presumably a programme of the UN also, or of WHO directly, since this is a health issue. The United Nations ought to do a study on why its good programme have generally failed. May be we will learn how to manage things better if we know the hurdles in the paths. As for the ban on daytime movement of heavy duty vehicles, enjoy the relative security in the absence of container carriers as well as browsers and trucks thundering through the city for awhile.