WATER PROVISION PROJECT – K3
The federal government had approved three major projects for Karachi a little before I became the city nazim. These were, namely Lyari Expressway, Northern Bypass and K3. The mega K3 project envisaged providing the city with 100 million gallons of water daily from the Indus River system. The water board had completed a project (K2) of providing 100 million gallons to Karachi from the river Indus in 1998. Our responsibilities were limited to the evacuation and repatriation of the affectees. The project was named ‘Lyari Expressway Resettlement Project’, with DCO Shafiq Paracha as its in-charge. He sat with the elected representatives and worked honestly and tirelessly to develop the list. The affectees were compensated to arrange for alternative plots and houses.
The expressway couldn’t be materialized without this evacuation because thousands of people had been residing deep on both sides of the river with their families for years. Hundreds of people had even built concrete homes there. The National Highway Authority was responsible for building the Northern Bypass, while the K3 project was to be completed by Karachi Water and Sewerage Board, which legally had become a subsidiary of the city government. Before the advent of the city government, the federal government had handed over Rs5,534 million for the mega project. Surprisingly, Brigadier Behram Khan, managing director of the water board, had included Transparency International in readying the tenders of the project. But before a consultant could be appointed, the city government came into being and I got the powers of making key decisions of the project as the city nazim. Behram Khan gave me a detailed briefing regarding the K3 project and apprised me about the progress so far.
I told him that the water board’s ‘Integrity Pact’ with Transparency International is appreciable, but that I wish that it should not be limited to just the K3, but extended to all projects of the board. I met the organization’s high-ups, namely Shaukat Umari and Adil Gilani and assured them of a free hand from my side. The joint committee of the water board and Transparency International approved the offer made by Techno Consult and I received the file for a final approval. But then something strange occurred. The company’s owner, Engineer Saeed Ahmad approached me and said: “Since I have had ties with you, I don’t want anyone to doubt you or me because of this project, even though my fee is Rs60 million, which is much less for a project of Rs5.5 billion.”
I replied: “Saeed sahib, this project was finalized even before I became the city nazim.” He said, “Even a small stain is prominent on a white piece of cloth.” Nonetheless, I asked the officers of the water board to re-scrutinize the process and include experts outside of the board in the consultation. However, despite the hustle, Techno Consult were the ones to win it again. The company named two skilled and experienced engineers, Arshad Farooqui and Asadullah for the project. The officers of water board, Misbahuddin Fareed, Mashkur-ul-Hasnain and Shahid Saleem, and Saleem Azhar, Izhar-ul-Haq and Faizanullah from our team worked extraordinarily and proved their commitment to the city. As a result of the Integrity Pact between the water board and Transparency International, Rs187 million were saved in terms of the K-3’s design and monitoring, while Rs837 million were secured in terms of construction and other areas.
The federal government had provided Rs5,534 million for the project and we awarded it entirely for Rs4,510 million and saved a record Rs1,024 million. Being an unbelievable saving, it was praised at the federal and provincial levels as well as in the media for a long period of time. The money saved in K-3 was utilized to provide water to some of Karachi’s islands, Baba Bhat and Salehabad, which involved laying a pipe into the sea. This project was also skillfully designed by Techno Consult, led by Engineer Bashir Lakhani, and it was implemented in Mustafa Kamal’s era. Some 15 to 16 contractors were transparently selected for different sections of K-3 and work began simultaneously on several of them. The project practically started on April 28, 2002 and Gen (retd) Pervez Musharraf laid its foundation stone at a simple ceremony held in front of Karachi University.
The K-3 project continued at its full pace and 95 percent of it was completed by the end of my mayorship, i.e. June 30, 2005. The mega project was formally inaugurated by Gen (retd) Musharraf on May 31, 2006, and provision of another 100 million gallons per day (mgd) to the people of the city began. Karachi used to receive 480 mgd from the Indus River before the completion of K-3. The city was only receiving 30 to 35 mgd due to the damage to the river from the Hub dam, while the capacity stood at 80 to 100 mgd. In 2002, on my instructions, the PC-II for the K-4 project for the provision of another 650 mgd from the Indus river system was prepared, and it was formally approved by the Sindh government in year 2003.
Discretionary powers abolished
After seeing the positive outcome of different measures, we decided to curb corruption and financial irregularities as well as take all those steps that could boost the city government’s revenue, beginning at home. It had been only a few days after I took office when an officer entered my room and said: “Sir, please sign this document.” He was carrying a file related to the city nazim’s discretionary funds. This specific fund was set up from the annual budget specifically to issue loan to the government’s employees. As per the method, 30 percent of the fund was to be distributed on the nazim’s discretion, while the rest via balloting. I told the officer to abolish the discretionary release, and release the full amount on the basis of balloting. I then asked Muslim Pervez to table a motion in the council to have the discretionary right abolished on permanent basis.
Unfortunately, every few days, there would be some sort of corruption or irregularity in one or the other project. The members of the coordination committee would convey the information and suggest solutions too. Timely measures remained fruitful, such as in the case of entrance tender for bringing livestock from outside of the city. The officer responsible for the section of the city government had also set up his office in Bhains Colony and only he knew about the number of animals arriving and the money being received. All we knew is that the city government receives Rs2 million to Rs2.5 million as the entry fees at the end of the year. I formed a committee and conducted a survey, and found out that the city government is receiving the fee for less than half of the livestock, and this system had been on for years. We decided to conduct an auction from next year to award the tender for the entry fees under the supervision of elected representatives. The last bid made during the open auction was Rs12 million, and the tender was awarded.
I had decided from the beginning to keep my personal expenditure to a minimum. Instead of a convoy, I chose a car for my commute. I used to avoid these convoys in the name of protocol, because the salaries of the drivers and the cost of petrol were to be borne by the government. I would often commute to my office with my driver, who had been with me for the past several years. In the next phase, we developed a code for the petrol allowed to the vehicles of the officers, which helped save a lot of money.
Construction of highly quality roads
While rectifying the basics, I focused on developmental work and initiated phase I of revamp of the Rashid Minhas Road (Drig Road to Drive-in Cinema). We decided that every road built from now onwards will be of American quality standard AASHTO. It is an internationally-accepted standard for roads, and includes three layers; base, sub-base and the top layer, accompanied by a service corridor for the rain drain. Also, the lines for the utility services are gathered, so if a normal road incurs Rs3 million per kilometer, the AASHTO-standard road costs more than double of the same. A normal road hardly has a lifespan of three to four years, while the standard one can remain safe from a major damage for 15 to 20 years. The Rashid Minhas road was seen and praised by journalists for its standard. The Karsaz road was being built when the IDEAS arms exhibition began. Since the same route was used to reach the Expo Center and we were left with very little time, the contractor burned more tar coal to get it done sooner and managed to complete it somehow. Doing so decreases the adhesiveness of tar coal.
There was no option at the time, but as soon as the exhibition ended, the road was dug and rebuilt from scratch. The members of Pakistan Engineers Forum, elected representatives and officers who were a part of our team are all appreciable as they were working with a vision and were determined to not compromise on the standard of the developmental work.
Referendum
The rapid journey of progress amidst a sea of issues, resources and challenges came to a bottleneck when then president Pervez Musharraf decided to conduct a referendum in the country. There were reports that he intended to use the support from nazims for the referendum, but I refused to be distracted from my work. A few days later, I received a message to travel to Islamabad as the president had invited all nazims to the federal capital. It was quite a sight to see; all political and apolitical nazims were in the same league. As per the gathering’s agenda, only the president was scheduled to address the participants and that’s what happened. As soon as he took the stage, he confidently said: “All the cities that you’ve come from happen to be my constituencies, so you will be running a campaign in my support during the referendum.” He said a few more things of the same sort and left. The nazims, too, left for their hometowns. As soon as I reached Karachi, I went to Governor’s House and met Muhammad Mian Soomro. I told him in clear words that he was a representative of the federation and I wanted to bring to his knowledge that president Musharraf had sought support from nazims for the referendum.
I also conveyed to him that gatherings will be organized in all major cities, and the local nazim will have to accompany the president on the stage. I said that now that I have completed my initial tenure as a nazim, I cannot suddenly take up the role of a political nazim. Soomro sahib felt the decisiveness in my tone, and said: “You seem to be angry and emotional at this time. Let’s talk about this later.” He was probably thinking that the situation will change after some time. As the referendum drew close, I could feel an increasing pressure for its support. The governor and the chief secretary were pressuring me in their respective ways. A few days prior to the referendum, a cricket match was scheduled to take place at National Stadium where I was invited as the city nazim. At the conclusion of the match, I came face to face with Corps Commander Karachi Tariq Wasim Ghazi. After the formalities, he said: “Let’s have tea at my office tomorrow.”
During the meeting the next day, he suddenly said: “We have heard that you are not willing to announce your support for the referendum?” “Yes, you have heard it right,” I replied. “It is against my conscience to provide political basis to the president while being apolitical.” I further said that I had resigned from my post in Jamaat-e-Islami despite being associated with the party for the past 40 years, and have been associated with the current system for just four years. He responded: “In such case, we will have to decide how we can dismiss the nazims unwilling to support the referendum.” I promptly said: “That won’t be necessary because I can hand you my resignation right now.” He quickly said: “Don’t get me wrong, I didn’t mean that.” I said: “It was a response to whatever you said.” In an effort to calm the situation, he said: “You seem emotional about this, please think about this calmly.”
Our meeting ended but the issue remained, so much so that those who had advised me to be calm about it began to act out of character, somewhat hilariously. As the issue lingered on, Tehran’s City Council invited me for a visit, which I accepted. When the provincial government found out about it, they refused to give me an NOC so as to ‘punish’ me for not supporting the referendum. The powers of issuing the NOC rested with the provincial government. I also said: “Fine, I won’t go if you won’t issue an NOC; I was willing to go because I had been invited by the Iranian government as a guest.” A few days later, a rally was scheduled in connection with the referendum. I found out that I will be required to accompany the president on the stage as the city nazim. The officials of the federal and provincial governments knew my opinion about the referendum and that I won’t be a part of the public meeting irrespective of the consequences. They feared that the nazim’s absence from the stage – while he is in the city – will cause them humiliation, and the media will make a ‘fuss about it’. So, they thought it was better to allow me to go to Iran for the aforesaid visit. One night, Governor Soomro came to my house without protocol and once done with the usual formalities, said: “There’s going to be a meeting with President Pervez Musharraf at the Governor’s House to discuss the referendum. It will be participated by the tehsil and city nazims of the whole province, and you should too.” I replied: “Okay.” He stayed with me for some time and reiterated his suggestion before leaving. By then, the nazims of the province as well as most nazims of the country knew that the referendum didn’t have my support. When I reached the Governor’s House on the day of the meeting, the nazim who were already there raised slogans: “Nazim sahib is here, nazim sahib is here”. They probably thought that I and the president had struck some kind of a deal regarding the referendum. The organizers of the program, on the other hand, were under the impression that I won’t attend the meeting because of my stance, so there was no chair for me at the stage.
A chair was quickly placed there and the gathering began. The president spoke at length about the benefits of the referendum, followed by a question and answer session. When someone sent a piece of paper with a question on it, President Musharraf said: “Naimatullah sahib will be responding about this,” and gave it to me. The program lasted for a little longer. When it ended, I proceeded to exit the room along with my secretary and city councilor Touseef. I was walking fast because my flight to Tehran was due soon. I had taken a few steps when I heard from behind: “Naimat sahib, Naimat sahib”. I turned and saw the governor’s principal secretary Brigadier Akhter Zamin trying to stop me. He raced towards me, held my hand and without saying a word, took me to the gate where the president was supposed to meet the nazims on his way back. He probably really wished the last moments of the meeting to turn into an opportunity for my support for the referendum. But President Musharraf left and my decision didn’t change, and the principal secretary’s last ditch effort went in vain.
As soon as he left, I went straight to the airport and left for Iran. I stayed there for around 10 days. The hosts of the Tehran City Council were very hospitable, expressing immense love and respect. The latter part of the trip included visits to various historic sites, especially Mashhad. When I came back, I found out that except for me, all nazims of the country had offered a full support to the president. My principled and firm stance concerning the referendum had also eliminated the notion within the JI that I provide undue support to President Musharraf to retain the mayorship. In actuality, I saw him as someone who wanted Karachi’s progress. Initially, he was a stern opposition of Muttahida and Altaf Hussain’s style of politics, but after the 2002 election, he became the biggest supporter of those who were responsible for destroying the city. A few months after the referendum, I was a part of a meeting attended by Pervez Musharraf in Islamabad, and I had a one-to-one encounter with him. He smiled and said: “Naimat sahib! You had opposed me in the referendum. It’s because you belong to JI, right?” I said: “That decision was against my conscience and I couldn’t ensure my support.” At this, he frankly said: “Well! Let it go, I was joking. I don’t think about these things much.”
Electoral Victory of MMA
The general elections were held in the country on October 10, 2002. The JI, Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam and Jamiat Ulema-e-Pakistan contested the polls under the banner of Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal, with the slogan of ‘book’. The US attack on Afghanistan had caused a lot of anger among the people, a large number of whom believed that the US and western countries wanted to eliminate Muslims by labeling them as terrorists and extremists, just like they did in the case of Afghanistan and in Iraq in the past after making false accusations. The development work done under the 178 Union Councils, 18 towns and the city government in Karachi also had a really good impact on people. There were elected representatives in their residential areas whom they had an easy access to. The truth is people were perturbed about Muttahida’s style of politics but they didn’t have an alternative. They were also unsure if the party they will vote for would win or if the polling will be held peacefully.
But the atmosphere had improved prior to the October 2002 elections and a large number of people case their votes in an independent manner. Though rigging was evident after 3pm in several places, the situation had become clear by then in several constituencies. The media had also found out that the people of Karachi have rejected Muttahida in several constituencies and the Majlis-e-Amal won several national and provincial assembly seats in Karachi. JI leaders Muhammad Hussain Mehanti, Abdul Sattar Afghani, Asadullah Bhutto and Laeeq Khan became MNAs while Nasrullah Khan Shaji, Younus Barai and Hameedullah Khan were elected as MPAs. In several constituencies, our candidates lost the contest with very few votes. In fact, they were made to lose the polls because by the evening, Muttahida had used its old methods to takeover polling stations, and took the polling staff hostage to issue favorable results.
The People’s Party got the most seats for Sindh Assembly, but in actuality, the behind-the-scene forces bought the loyalties of some MPAs to deprive the majority party of power, and the majority was achieved by taking Muttahida and some groups onboard. Subsequently, Ali Muhammad Meher was made the chief minister. This marked the beginning of issues of a new sort as Muttahida Qaumi Movement got a hold of favorable portfolios and started to create obstacles in the way of the city government.
