Chowrangi

After the commercial capital of Pakistan, Karachi, the administrative capital Islamabad and its twin dirty brother Rawalpindi saw one of the worst traffic jam of the history yesterday. After the rain, and due to the rush towards home in the wake of Iftari, thousands of vehicles remained entangled for hours in various chowks and roads.

As usual, there was not single traffic policeman in sight. Perhaps they were all busy in accumulating Eidi at some other place. To add insult to injury, after the jam took worst turn, all the traffic sigals were turned off by some mysterious hand. Traffic system was just went out of control.

In Ramadan, it’s a common thing that rush becomes dense on roads just before Iftari, as people try to return back to their homes from schools, colleges, universities, offices and businesses to open the fast with their families. After yesterdays intense rain, roads of Pindi/Islamabad transformed into languid canals, with a strong stench. Needless to say, there was no drainage system at all.

What is the advantage of these district governments and these ministers and elected members? Ramadan comes every year, and everyone knows that traffic tends to increase before Iftari, and there must be a special plan for traffic in Ramadan. But then this is Pakistan, where these Nazims, Naib Nazims, Ministers and others don’t really care. They care just about their current rule, and the potential rule in the next elections.

Shiekh Rashid, the big mouth minister of railway, should be made to sit in his vehicle beneath any of the underpasses on Murree road, which were full of sewerage water, for 3 hours in the fasting mode, and then he would have realized whats it all about. Shiekh Rashid either likes to butter President Musharraf, or he likes to inaugurate Girls schools. One could only weep in frustration, if the people of Rawalpindi elects him again.

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