OP-ED: Chiragh talay undhera —Navid Shahzad

Lahore is undergoing a major development transformation, is it too much to hope that someone will address issues that lie closest to the hearts of its residents?

The flood of mail jamming my hotmail address served as a true eye opener. If one was halfway convinced about the launching of a Heritage properties scheme, one is now truly convinced that the idea is worth exploring. A common cause which explores the possibility of retired people being ensured a dignified life within the four walls of their homes, the city’s historic landmarks like Dr Bheek’s house on the little hill near Mayo Hospital and Hafeez Jullundhri’s Model Town residence being rescued from the strident march of time will be received well by a large majority of Lahore’s citizens.

There is more good news. The Punjab government has launched an incentive scheme of offering a Rs200 stipend to girl students to increase literacy levels. This, if implemented well, is where I would like to see my taxes go. So while the logistics of the scheme are being mapped out, may we draw the attention of the city fathers to issues of city development which are in the interest of the common man rather than the well-heeled visitor?

To begin with, how we can even conceive of planning luxury hotels when we have not been able to find a solution to that constant eye and health sore which is the open drain that cuts through the heart of ‘new’ Lahore is myopia at its zenith. There is much wisdom in the adage, chiragh talay undhera since that is precisely what the exercise entails. The beacon of light promising to illumine the economic skyline once the tourist accommodation is enhanced, is due to be implemented with a combination of short-sightedness, expediency and short-term goals.

Before one is labelled as a cynical nitpicker, let me assure the residents of Lahore that there is absolutely no doubt in my mind about the fact that the city, despite the lack of rain, has seldom looked as beautiful as it did during the Spring of 2004. Carpets of petunia, kilms of variegated marigold lined the boulevards; fountains splashed their merry tunes in the evenings and freshly installed fog-lights chased the shadows away while on the food streets, every night was a gourmet gala.

Yet ironically, a mere stone’s throw away from the illuminated, painted, merry face of the metropolis, a dark sludge of human and animal waste snaked its insidious way between the pristine purity of the Gymkhana golf course and main Zafar Ali Road. Its sluggish meanderings cut across the replanted, replanned, magnificently resoled four lanes of the Gulberg main boulevard, disappearing with wafts of noxious odours into the wild blue yonder.

The irony is compounded by the fact that it is virtually at a standstill in front of the District Nazim’s offices where, glutted with plastic throwaways, it spreads its foul smells into the still air. Small children play on its banks immunized to its Styxian presence by habit and compulsion. Surely, someone, somewhere can come up with a solution to the problem. I leave it to the young Turks in the provincial set-up to live up to their promise of giving us a clean, vibrant Lahore restoring its status as the ‘queen of cities’ in the region.

And while we are at it, as a concerned citizen and as a conscientious tax payer, I would like to see our children’s schools housed in custom-built premises as opposed to every corner house being converted into a makeshift campus. This is, in every sense of the phrase, a violation of the rights of the child. The first premise in a module on Adolescent Psychology taken as part of an undergraduate study emphasised that ‘the child was not a small adult’. There are needs which are specific to biological age and motor development. One of these is the space requirement for each child, in the classroom as well as outdoors. The majority of institutions violate these with a mixture of ignorance and insensitivity. For a young child to be deprived of a play area which allows for active physical activity is to curtail growth in essential areas.

More often than not, old houses are renovated to accommodate a school population resulting in tricky spiral staircases, artificially-lit classrooms devoid of natural light, poor access to toilet facilities, virtually no playgrounds and to top it all no parking spaces. The frustrating traffic jams and bottle necks that one witnesses in residential areas are a direct result of the ad hocism practised by school authorities and the blind-eye policy followed by LDA in permitting schools to function in heavily congested areas. All civilised countries designate school zones in their cities. These are in large measure, planned to have public transport access, a pollution-free environment, proximity to green areas while being set well away from residential/industrial high-risk sites.

Whatever the size of the school, essential outdoor areas offering playing fields are considered imperatives. Lahore is undergoing a major development transformation, is it too much to hope that someone will address issues that lie closest to the hearts of its residents?

The writer is currently the consultant for Beacon House National University, Lahore. Her e-mail address is: navidshahzad@hotmail.com

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