Rawalpindi is fast becoming a mess. Last week, I landed back in Islamabad from Doha and was stuck at Faizabad, where people were protesting against murder of their relatives. Hardly a kilometre or so ahead on the Expressway towards Naval Anchorage, another group had placed more dead bodies in protest on the same grounds.
It later transpired that the deaths were a result of long family feuds between indigenous clans of the city. Fights between these indigenous clans are order of the day. When free from fighting with one another, the lava of their wrath engulfs the outsiders who basically dominate the population but are unable to form big groups or clans.
The city attracts a good number of people who work in government and private offices here and in nearby Islamabad. I myself lived all my student life in Commercial Market in Satellite Town. These people remain prone to different forms of exploitations and violence by the malignant indigenous clans who in some cases operate like gangs.
This is not the only or the biggest problem that the city administrators prefer keeping a blind eye on. Water is the main issue for residents. I have attended many funerals here of the people whose deaths were caused by water-borne diseases. I have seen husbands and wives, and children and their parents die of these diseases because of the chronic issue of bad quality of water that is supplied to the city. For all their charming posturing, the city managers are unable to supply even this foul water to the residents and tanker mafia reigns supreme during summer.
Water and sanitation issues augmented the spread of dengue and tens of people have so far lost their lives to this epidemic and counting. The provincial authorities removed a deputy commissioner on account of spread of dengue but more people have died of this disease after his removal. Due to worsening situation of law and order and spread of water-borne diseases, people believe that the provincial authorities do not care about them; rather, they used dengue as an excuse to make appointments of some favourites to this important station.
Due to the close proximity of Islamabad and Rawalpindi, many people call these twin cities, which they are not in any way. Rawalpindi city administration has a lot to learn from ICT administration. The situation in the garris.on city merits urgent attention by Punjab Chief Minister Usman Buzdar and other decision makers. Mr. Buzdar once drove on Murree Road to inspect the state of order and cleanliness in the city. We in this space intend to tell him that Mr. Chief Minister rest assured that this was a one-day arrangement. Murree Road is nothing like what he drove on at that time. People are dying in the city while the administrators are busy showing off themselves as heading different meetings on a daily basis on social media. Everything looks hunky dory on social media but on the ground the city has become a picture of mismanagement and disorder. The sooner the CM take notice of it, the better.
