M.
Hanif Raza talks
about the good and the bad aspects of
Islamabad.
Islamabad is a young city so it does not
boast of any historic forts or palaces, any
Mughal style historic buildings and gardens.
It has neither any grand museums nor any
imperial monuments. Yet it has certain
attractions of its own and they are its wide
tree lined avenues, open spaces, parks,
gardens and fountains, etc which give an air
of spaciousness, abundant greenery and
hundreds of flowering trees. Even today
during the hottest months of June and July
hundreds of trees flower here.
The city is dominated by the Margalla hills,
which could have been a grand asset if
looked after properly. Unfortunately these
hills are not getting the attention that
they deserve so much. As such, for the time
being they look neglected and deserted.
Records, however, indicate that there was a
great forest of pines and a variety of other
plants and shrubs which covered the hills.
Trees were cut away by the local population
without any sort of re-plantation programme.
So now the hillsides facing Islamabad are
devoid of trees but the lower parts are
covered with useless shrubs. The back area
is well forested even today though trees are
being cut recklessly. The droughty
conditions prevailing in the country for the
past four to five years are also affecting
the overall beauty of the city. The second
factor is the gross carelessness of the
administrative machinery. Yet it appears
better than in most of the other cities of
Pakistan.
The name of the Margalla hills was correctly
recorded by Alberuni as "mar-i-qila" which
means "the (hills) fort of the serpent". In
the ancient days Taxila was the main city,
which attracted emperors, adventurers, monks
and missionaries, travellers and traders
alike from various parts of the world. It is
located on the western slope of the Margalla
hills, while Islamabad, the modern capital
of Pakistan, is located on the eastern
slopes. In the ancient days Taxila was one
of the most important cities of South Asia
but it is now in ruins. Today Islamabad is
one of the important cities of South Asia
and attracts very important personalities
including kings, presidents and prime
ministers of various countries almost from
all parts of the world. So Islamabad is the
city of the present and the city of the
future.
During the past few years the vast expanse
of the capital site has undergone a radical
transformation right from October 1961 when
the first spade was struck on the ground to
mark the commencement of a gigantic task of
building the new capital of Pakistan. Prior
to that, the area was known for its jackals,
monkeys and pigs. Some of them can be seen
even today after the sun sets in the
sectors, which are nearer to the hills and
around the Pakistan Secretariat buildings.
But now grand buildings and avenues are
coming up fast all around and the cost of
the land has now gone beyond the sky. Yet
the people are trying hard and they are
building markets, plazas and houses.
There was a time when it was thought that
Islamabad would not be merely just another
city. It would be rather a leader among the
cities of Pakistan. It was desired that it
should be designed and developed to be the
city for all types of citizens. It was
supposed that it would essentially draw its
colour and flavour from various components
of its population. That is what the planners
were told. They were, however, not briefed
about the fact that in Pakistan there are
thousands and thousands of people who love
to live along the dirty nullahs - and that
the stinking sewage water and foul smell
serve them as a tonic for health. So the
planners did not plan anything for such
people.
Similarly nobody asked the planners as to
where the garbage will be dumped. The
planners gave them a plan, received their
money and went back. Now CDA is in doldrums.
They don't know where they should dump the
garbage. "Are you surprised?" "No. I think
you are amused because surprises are
aplenty". The garbage problem is hanging in
the balance for the past thirty years. And
that is the real surprise - thirty years
have passed and there is no decision as to
where the garbage should be dumped? Is that
not wonderful?
The planners also failed to realize that
there is no proper perennial river around
Islamabad. I think they never visualized
that the capital city would require great
water resources. They never thought as to
how the capital would survive if it was hit
by drought. Now (2002) for the past more
than five years the people of the capital
are facing great water shortages. In the
summer the water is supplied on alternate
days. The supply is very poor and the
quality is questionable and challenged every
now and then...
There are several other sectors and
commercial areas, which are now under
development so the population is going to
increase and water requirement will also
increase manifold. Therefore some permanent
sort of arrangements are required to be made
on top priority basis for the constant and
regular supply of sufficient water to the
capital. Ultimately the water will have to
be brought either from the river Indus or
from the river Jhelum. The sooner it is done
the better it will be. By doing so the
beauty of Islamabad can be saved and its
people can also be saved from constant agony
otherwise the survival of Islamabad is
doubtful.The population of Islamabad has
been increasing steadily and there are now
thousands and thousands of people who are
living along every dirty nullah. They have
developed huge colonies, which are flooded
with people of shady backgrounds and
characters. All these colonies are known as
kachchi abadies. Unfortunately in Islamabad
the nullahs move in a serpentine manner and
pass through many sectors. So there is
profusion of kachchi abadies which have
mushroomed straight away before the eyes of
the CDA. Right before the eyes of so many
ministries where thousands of people work
and they call themselves officers and every
month draw fat salaries. Surprisingly nobody
bothered to take any notice of such gross
lawlessness. There is an army of ministers
too but nobody is bothered. Prime ministers
come, prime ministers go, presidents come
and presidents go - entire governments come
and entire governments go but the kachchi
abadies do not go. They keep on growing and
growing and generating problems and creating
lawlessness of every sort...
Under such circumstances how will Islamabad
draw its own colour and flavour and what a
colour and flavour it will be - only God
knows better. No doubt people of other
cities claim that Islamabad is colourless
and it has no character. It may be true but
for the time being only. I am, however,
hopeful that Islamabad will get its colour
once it is freed from the clutches of the
CDA and its residents are also given the
right to vote and elect their own district
government/administration. There are some
other irritants too and it is hoped that one
day these irritants will also come to an
end. Besides it may be realized that
building and development of capital cities
is not an easy affair. Such cities take
hundreds of years to achieve a character and
a colour of their own. After all Rome was
not built in a day.
Today the city draws it scenic splendour
from the crescent shaped Margalla hills,
which cover more than 31,151 acres of
reserve forest and grass farms known as the
Islamabad National Park. Unfortunately the
National Park has not been maintained as it
was planned. Mysteriously twenty-six
unauthorized villages have grown up in the
park area and more than twelve thousand
people live in these villages. So it has
become a unique national park. All these
villagers are a great threat for the
survival and development of the park.
M. Hanif Raza
is a photographer and writer. He is the
author of several books, some important ones
being Where Mountains Meet, Karachi: The
Show Window of Sindh, Lahore Through
Centuries and Splendours of Pakistan.
In the last 32 years Islamabad has undergone
many changes and has grown from a cluster of
small, sleepy villages to being the modern
capital of Pakistan. The book documents this
growth and captures the beauty of the city.
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