Karachi and its Chaos Roads
We live in a country where somehow the nation seems to adjust and adapt to almost everything happening on the planet without much effort by almost anyone. So we have been pretty ok with having issues with the electricity since decades, now almost every home is UPS enabled and some even have generators. Others have begun buying gas cylinders to cater to the ongoing issue of no gas in order to meet their daily basic requirement to cook food. The others who were already living below the poverty line have added another factor to their list of inaccessible stuff and have begun living with that only.
Similarly we as a nation have adapted to all the numerous changes in the once important roads and we all live with it, while some of our political leaders enjoy having luxurious treats even when they go over for religious tours while the others are busy with the Long and short marches and the so called Inquilaab talks while the common man struggles to live a decent life amidst the chaos of blocked roads, traffic jams, broken detoured roads & inflation leading to a huge feeling of inadequacy.
So Malik Riaz one day realizes that he needs to dig up all the roads around the Mazar and Park Towers and why wouldn’t he. Probably he foresaw the need for an underpass after the whole Bahria Town project finishes up and the stacked up traffic jam. It might have been a good intuition but as it happens in Pakistan he did not bother to take any permission from the higher authorities hence one day the road is dug up and the next day the court puts sanctions on building the underpass till further order. So now there is a tussle b/w Mr Riaz and the court and while they fight their battle the common man is stranded since one of the very main roads connecting Clifton to the rest of the Karachi is turned into a junkyard. Now as a result so many detours are made; all the cars trucks etc are now passing through the kachi abadis around do talwar, zamzama and the backside road just next to south city hospital. So we as a nation just love to adapt and not utter a word.
When this wasn’t enough; the road just next to south city was dug up one day with the excuse that since currently this is one of the main detours it needs to be fixed. I guess these people have lots of money to spend on roads which seem pretty alright even before all the work but they just don’t have money to spend on roads where it is actually required. Yesterday I happened to cross the main Korangi causeway and trust me it is one of the very main roads connecting the busy industrial area of Karachi and oh boy it requires hell lot of work but no one will bother. There are so many dangerous broken corners of the road just next to the waters where one can easily fall of the road into the deep dirty water but then again who bothers. Maybe someday if Nawaz Sharif has to pass through the causeway then we can look forward to a better built road.
And to add to the whole climax; after a very tragic incident at the sea view, they have sealed an entire road. So although there is adequate space for a person to walk up to the sea and dive and die again if he wants to but no car can pass through the second road. From the scenario it seems as if people drove with their cars/bikes into the sea and died hence closing the road for vehicles. Again everyone has adapted to it and the only available road has become a two way road where people are actually racing, overtaking cars and trucks (if we remember since now the 2 talwar wali road is sealed so most trucks pass through the sea view road towards ittehad now) making it more risky and prone for accidents but yes our government does not bother about it.
Let’s not forget to mention one of the roads next to the Zardari’s castle which has been sealed off since God knows when. We are so thankful to them for being so progressive and opening up one of the two roads after their government left otherwise we as a nation were very compromising and adequate in passing through the meek service road only next to the sealed off main roads.
Till we as a nation don’t stand up to our rights in the everyday life these people will never hesitate to actually seal us off from each and every right and each and every privilege.