Metal thieves create new danger for pedestrians in Islamabad

Missing covers pose a significant public safety risk. Pets, pedestrians, cyclists and motorists are at serious danger by the open catch basins in F-7 and F-8 sectors at Islamabad this part of season when they prefer to have nighttime walks with their pets.

“Metal thieves have opened a gaping hole in the public safety of our streets.” says Abdul Jabber who has been resident of F-8/4 for more than 20 years.

Pedestrians face danger when they are walking on dark and rainy sidewalks. Thieves have stolen so many covers off storm drain basins that pedestrians now risk blindly stepping into a hole up to six feet deep that could result in a broken leg or worse.

Catch basins are located near curbs and in alleys to drain water from our roadways. They are covered with large metal grates. Uncovered, most catch basins are a foot or two deep. Others can be as deep as five or six feet.

 “In the dark, people may not recognize that a catch basin is missing or the open hole may be covered with leaves and debris making it harder to distinguish the hole from solid ground.” Says Munir, an old man, who lives in F-7 and prefers evening walks with his wife in the nearby area.

When city staff receives a report of a missing cover they secure the location, mark the danger and if necessary call a crew to replace the stolen cover, says Ramzan the official spokesman for the  CDA adding “Out of these, 3,000 manhole covers are managed by the Roads Division of the CDA,”

He insisted that the authority’s civic management wing was in the process of limiting the theft of manhole covers but “we can’t keep an eye on every manhole cover every day.”

A catch-basin cover is made of cast iron and weighs about 140 pounds. “There are gangs of young and old thieves, mostly from the squatter settlements of the capital,” he said, “and they are equipped with hammers and iron cutters to dismantle the covers within few minutes.”

Commenting over the financial loss faced by the authority he added that the per month loss crosses over Rs148, 000.

I ' m Editor Today !

 I wake-up early in the morning. Why so early?  Just as I ask myself, the clue flash in my mind, “I am  Mr. Editor on very first day of digital TOT’s news room week.”  First days and first turn are never easy for me. I always get so nervous.  They always remind me of my first day at school. My first day this time, however, was nothing like other first days I have had. This time, I wasn’t nervous. I didn’t pass myself on chocolate and didn’t even cry.  I was really excited about my first day on the assignment with fewer butterflies in my stomach.

My job was simply learning the procedure and feeling the responsibility prior to the assignment as an editor for my journalism department’s website. I knew I don’t have to teach how to write stories or to give a dictionary of technical web terminology and other bookish editing procedures.

 I knew I don’t need to impress my team with the authority I have for the day. But was sure the task this time was much more difficult as the things I supposed not to do were the things I was doing for the last six years as a journalism instructor.

I knew my Editor in Chief Michal Alexander would ask me a rundown and complete structure with pictures and videos as he had  earlier made me clearly understood how to interact with the team and to pull things out of them individually viewing their attitude. I also knew he would be my Guard father today.

 Though, we find it hard to pitch worthy story ideas as everyone  was discussing issues letting aside the stories attached to them, however everyone person was so nice and welcoming that I even forgot about the two butterflies that were still flying in stomach.

Everyone seems motivated in talking to me and treating me as their editor. The earlier few minutes spent with my workmates made me realized it’s the nicest experience I have ever experienced, but I knew I need to force them time and again to transform their writings, voice videos and pictures more stronger as in the end  only  this can make me strong as  Mr. Editor.

WHY TO BE SPIRITUAL?

Logic only tells us what we see with our perceptual mind. Might be we believe, what we see, but it doesn’t address everything we have in our life. Even the most devoted observer must admit that we have no hope of understanding the universe. Some things always remain unknowable to us

This, I think has actually happened to our society in Pakistan where losing of spiritual values has resulted as a freeze in the way of propagation of love, values and humanity.

The fading of emotional support through Sufism, tolerance, festivals and spiritual devotional  dance and songs over shrines has affected our culture a way that an average Pakistani seems to be disturbed today even after studying throughout their life.

In this situation, the time might come when the knowledge and the man knowing that knowledge might come to an end. The common people hate and the elite remain unsatisfied from spiritualism. This is the era of that situation in our life. It is all about power, politics and money, which people have come to use as replacement of hope these days.

The result is the emergence of mind that think the admiration of saints and its devotional singing and dancing as a unforgiving sin and curse for the society.

In Pakistan, Government neither supervises the spiritual sciences nor encouraged the trend of specialized social institutions cultivating the spiritual learners having tolerance for the society. This negligence has also resulted in a mindset having  silence or otherwise acceptance for the militants bombing dozens of Sufi shrines and killing hundreds of worshipers since 2005. Most worst is the fact that this has now even prompted devotees of the typically nonviolent and politically inactive sect to begin preparing for battle with them.

It’s now the time for our government to decide which way they want to destine their society or otherwise it’s never.

VEGGIES PRICE HIKE IN ISLAMABAD

The vegetable prices in Islamabad almost doubled in the past year. Today you could buy a kilo of tomatoes for 45 rupees. A year ago the same tomatoes would sell for 25 rupees. The sellers blame the middlemen for the high prices, while the middlemen blame the producers. However experts and market officials say that the state of economy and the lack of proper agricultural policies are to blame for the hike in the vegetable prices.

There might be multiple reasons but all it affects is the pocket of a common man.

An average buyer like Muhammad Riaz Whom I met in Rana Market Islamabad is unable to understand the price Mechanism. He says they fluctuate every day. He doesn’t know anything about middle men, producers or inflation and says vegetables and fruits in the market have got so expensive that it has become impossible for him to buy anything. He says “Its 60 today would be forty tomorrow and something else day after tomorrow. It has been like this for years.” He even fears he has to sleep meal less one day.

 

“Please weight them properly,” “how much, 100, isn't it too much,” “the other guy demanded 60 for the same,” “don’t do like this,” is the conversation you might hear at every vegetable shop if you are a regular visitor. The shopkeepers have a single answer, “we buy it expensive these days then how could we sell it less.”

The shopkeepers usually accuse merchants for selling high to them. The merchants in turn reply they have to locally buy these vegetables or to import from other part of the world. Taxes and farm production are the reason for price hike to them. They even accuse government for damaging their business by not having a food friendly economic policy.

The economist like Prof. Pervaz janjua, on other hand, has the view that the food commodities are perishable and it’s normal if they fluctuate in prices in a country where despite of deficit the food is usually exported to increase per capita income.  

 

WHAT I BELIEVE OF MY MEDIA

I know! One would call me pessimist and biased though I am sure that Media can profile growth, governance, serve audience as their third eye and a prolonged ear to have clues of future trends. It can also help in forming positive perception regarding  public representatives, policy and institutions.

But it wouldn't be wrong, if I today generalize the functioning of my 24x7 TV channels as a business with desperate acts of pathetic dynamics.

Sheer sensationalism and an over-enthusiasm to report under breaking News has now started to give this impression of media to its typical viewers in a country where an average citizen starts his day by listening morning news and wraps it up by watching the late night's prime time opinions, all, just to keep himself informed of truth and reality.

In the name of analysis and political discourse, most news channels have now decided to operate on a popular formula that was formerly associated with Urdu Mainstream press. 
 

The formula, which once asked newspapers to cover more of those events and issues which had their pitch against the immediate government, and consequently those papers grabbed more readership, circulation and advertisements than their neutral counterparts.

 This also gave promotion to the filthy culture of TV talk shows where the blunt disgrace for each other   determines the success of the Show and channel among audience today.

To catch more advertisers, a flood of programs copying the content lines from across the border have increased dramatically with the passage of time. similarly re-telecasting an Indian Program has  also become more the matter of competition and marketing tool for every TV channel in Pakistan.

To be conclusive of what I am saying is that our relatively young enthusiastic electronic media has committed few mistakes and sacrificed definite standards operating under certain impulses evolved out of our own endogenous circumstances, yet the most positive thing for media critics is that media itself has been critical of its role and debates have been ranged by them to analyze what social responsibility demands of them.

                                                                                                        Photo courtesy Google