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LAHORE is one of the unsafe cities of Pakistan.
Karachi, Peshawar, Islamabad, whole of North West
and Balochistan today present a dismal picture of
blood and gore. Marauding armies of Islamic
extremists of one or the other faction cast their
dark shadows, killing dozens and maiming many more
every month. How do the common people whose voice
is drowned in the cacophony of politics survive
this daily dose of fear must be a miracle. If they
survive the bombs and guns, the pollution takes a
heavy toll and then there is that ever present
demons; hunger and poverty. 20 per cent of Lahore’s
population lives in slums and figure of Karachi is
close to 70 per cent.
 Lahore is now the most polluted city of Pakistan;
except in the posh areas like any other city in
South Asia, heaps of garbage that breed sickness
greet the visitors. The emissions from industry
and automobiles have rendered its air
un-breathable. Since there is no waste-treatment
plant, so all the raw sewage is merrily pushed
into the Ravi. And in the next twenty years, when
the population doubles, the Ravi, a part of
Punjab’s legends and lore would be a dirty drain.
By 2050, population of Pakistan will exceed 300
million and will be largely urbanised. Experts
estimate that in the next 10 years, urbanisation
of the population is set to exceed 50 percent and
is expected to peak, by 2030-2050, at 65 percent.
Slums decorate every city in south Asia and these
do not indicate poverty alone. Slums are places of great
economic activity all across the globe. These
are the slums as these do not have the same water,
sewage, electricity utilities, and space, found in
posh or middle class areas. Slum dwellers make all
the commercial activity possible, yet this
proletariat suffers the
sub human living.
Tragically no city is being planned to take acre of
the poor and the slum dwellers. no talks about
equity. There is no word
for efficient use of electricity, water, roads,
land space and health or education needs. With
over 50 per cent of the people the below poverty
line category, how would Pakistan survive without
resorting to equity and planned development in future cities? Clearly the
present divisions between the rich and the poor
will not work for all times to come.
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