The collapse of Lodhi Arcade in Shah Alam market has led the government to declare over 1,108 buildings in the area illegal. However, the whole episode raises a host of questions as to why the government always moves only after such tragedies happen. It's not very hard to find out why the concerned authorities have so far failed to ensure observance of building codes in the city.

It seems the whole city of Lahore has become hostage to a mafia of land-grabbers and developers of illegal buildings. They are well-connected and always on the lookout to make quick money. An overwhelming majority of town nazims and town naib nazims are developers themselves and hence unwilling to act against such unscrupulous elements. In many cases, these representatives of the public are themselves the owners of illegal buildings and think themselves above the law.

Structural engineers in City District Government say Lodhi Arcade (China Tower) would never have caved in if the building laws had been observed fully in the first place. The official report compiled by the city district government, after the Lodhi Arcade tragedy, pinpoints the alleged nexus that exists between town planning, building and coordination departments and Lahore Development Authority (LDA) officials with plaza owners. In order to make easy money, these officials allow construction of multi-storeyed buildings on a massive scale in the city in clear violation of building bylaws. Most of these building are at high risk and might come down any time. Even a tremor of a mild intensity could cause a colossal loss as was seen on October 8, 2005 when an under-construction plaza could not not resist the shock.

The report divulges that plaza owners are politically well-connected and have constructed most of these mammoth structures mostly during the past five years. The report further reveals that Bilal Lodhi, the owner of Lodhi Arcade who is still at large, has close connections with a federal minister, and has used his influence in raising a 12-storeyed building on a plot where only a 5-storeyed building was allowed.

Besides, it is an open secret that a special adviser to the chief minister, a former assembly member, dozens of union council nazims, a senior police officer of the city and many gangsters are involved in construction of illegal plazas in Shah Alam Market.

Amjad Malik, a resident of Shah Alam, says anything is possible provided you are resourceful and ready to pay the price for obtaining an undue favour from concerned authorities. "One can easily find people turning mere shops into tall plazas without being noticed by anyone. Traders and shopkeepers seem free to add one floor after the other with impunity and nobody interferes." They are rapidly turning just five-marla or 10-marla plots into big multi-storeyed buildings, good enough to fetch them millions of rupees. The LDA officials or city government's town planners are their partners in crime and get due share from the profits this mafia makes.

Amjad says that the owners of plazas in Shah Alam are not only adding additional storeys to their already unstable buildings, they are digging basements for high rise buildings after their completion. This they are doing without consulting structure engineers and other experts. "One can well imagine how vulnerable a structure becomes once the block of uncompacted mud is removed from under its base," he says.

"This is totally against the recommended practice of digging the basement before even laying the foundation of a building. Proper ompaction of ground, laying of concrete and erecting properly spaced pillars are crucial to have a basement for a multi-storeyed structure. Permission should never be given to build storeys beyond the approved height as it adds to the weight supported by the pillars," says Amjad. The real danger to such structures is rain water that seeps into the ground and makes the base of the basement even softer. Once this happens, the building starts sinking or tilting to one side, he tells TNS.

Khalid Ahmed, another resident of the area, calls for immediate and safe removal of the debris of the collapsed Lodhi Arcade. He says buildings and homes around Lodhi Arcade (China Tower) are in danger of collapsing completely if the city government does not take precautionary measures while removing the debris. He fears further destruction and fatalities if Lodhi Arcade collapses even further. "People living and working around Lodhi Arcade have vacated their homes and workplace."

Assurances by debris removal teams and city government officials have somewhat calmed the panic-stricken people. But Nadeem Elahi, a member of one of the debris removal teams, says the major problem these teams are facing is that Lodhi Arcade is too high a structure. "Big blocks of bricks and concrete may fall on the houses in close neighbourhood and shops situated on either side of the building," he says.

Lahore City District Nazim Mian Amir Mahmood holds the traders responsible for rampant illegal construction in sheer violation of building laws across the city and Shah Alam area in particular. He tells TNS that the City District Government had been requesting local traders for the last two years to refrain from endangering precious human lives by raising illegal structures, in the area. "But, this plaza mafia managed to build hundreds of shops on added storeys without getting their construction plans approved or without even depositing the commercialisation fee," he says.

According to Mian Amir, it is basically the responsibility of town administration and LDA officials to ensure that building bylaws are implemented in letter and spirit in their jurisdictions. "But now the city government, being a supervisory body, has taken all administrative steps to implement building bylaws. The government has put an end to all ongoing construction activity in the area to save human lives from any further losses."

Amir says the district government administration has decided to ensure disconnection of all utilities to illegal buildings and has conveyed to Lahore Electric Supply Company, Water and Sanitation Agency, Pakistan Telecommunications Company Limited and Sui Northern Gas Pipelines to watch out for illegal structures before offering them utility services.

The District Coordination Officer (DCO) Lahore, Mian Muhammad Ejaz tells TNS that the government has taken serious notice of the incident and has suspended LDA Deputy Director Town Planning Officer Shakeel Ahmad Minhas, Assistant Director Town Planning Mahmood Ali and Building Inspector Fayaz Zahoor for their negligence. These officers have been taken to task for their failure in stopping illegal construction in the area.

He says under the newly amended LDA building bylaws, a plaza higher than 70 feet will not be allowed to be constructed on an area of less than one kanal whereas a 60-feet plaza can only be built on an area of 10 marlas.

The DCO further says that town planners have been directed to ensure early removal of the wreckage of the collapsed plaza as well as their presence on the scene to to avoid any further damage to adjacent buildings and the remaining floors of the China Tower.

Muhammad Nagar, a long-neglected locality in the vicinity of Gari Shahu, was finally brought to the provincial government's notice. It was in May this year that the broken streets were eventually carpeted. Abdul Aleem Khan, member provincial assembly from the area, was lauded for the timely act and banners were displayed in different parts of the locality. Residents were grateful that the task was complete before the beginning of monsoon rains.

Their satisfaction was short-lived. In a month's time, city district government started digging the whole area to replace the old sewerage system. Three months later, sewerage system has not been changed. The whole area is inundated for hours after normal rain.

Annoyed by the broken roads and stagnant rainwater, residents of Muhammad Nagar slammed the authorities and accused them of negligence. "Why did Water and Sanitation Agency (Wasa) wait for the streets to be carpeted to start mining the area. Who is responsible for the wastage of funds and inconvenience of residents," asks 35 year old Muhammad Imran.

The Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (Ecnec) meeting early this month in which it approved 30 development projects also revealed how much money is being wasted in development sector due to negligence. The Ecnec approvals include a hefty amount of Rs21 billion for eight ongoing projects on account of cost escalation attributed to faulty planning, design problems and delays in implementation.

Muhammad Nagar is not the only area of city where city or provincial government started its development projects during monsoon. The condition in Gulberg is even worse. Right before the start of monsoon in mid-June, Wasa started a project of replacing the old sewerage system of Gulberg. The project was expected to be completed before monsoon rains but shows no signs of completion in within the next couple of months. Guru Mangat Road, Sir Syed Road, Noor Jehan Road (Hussain Chowk to Guru Mangat Road), Makkah Colony, adjoining areas of 7-Up factory are the most-affected.

Residents of Gulberg are facing many problems. "You can hardly find any space in Gulberg to walk or drive. After the rain, the roads become like pools and ponds, the cars keep falling in the ditches after the rain. The situation has become worse because schools are now open after vacations," says Khalid Qayum.

Nazim Lahore Mian Amer Mehmood is of the view that situation is under control. "I and the officials of all departments concerned are monitoring the situation closely. It is right that residents are facing problems but overall the situation is under control. Eventually they will benefit from the project that is going to solve sewerage problem of the area for at least next three decades and they will forget the inconvenience caused by Wasa."

Giving the reasons for delay, he blames excessive rains and early start of monsoon. "It was a project of the provincial government, which was transferred to the district government after a long delay, that is why it started in mid-June," he adds.

Town administration admits that project is creating a lot of problem for people but says it can't be held responsible for it. Ali Abbas, Town Municipal Officer Gulberg Town, says, "Sewerage and water supply is not a subject of town administration. We requested Wasa to complete the project in patches. But their contractor dug out the whole area and before he started laying new sewerage pipes, monsoon started. That not only delayed the project but also created a lot of problem for people and administration too," he tells TNS.

Shahzad Noor Qadri a councillor from Gurumangat Gulberg gives credit to Punjab Chief Minister's son Moonis Elahi for the project (Moonis has announced to contest election from the area). "His personal commitment to solve the problems of the area made it possible for residents to replace the useless sewerage system."

Opposition parties slam Punjab government for the untimely start of development work in Gulberg area and refer to it as pre-poll rigging in the name of development. "It is all part of election campaign of Punjab Chief Minister's son Moonis Elahi who has announced to contest election from this constituency. Punjab government is spending funds in the area while credit is being given to a person who has no link with the people of area. This is a clear-cut case of pre-poll rigging," says Abdul Ghafoor, PML-N Chaudhry, member Punjab assembly from the area.

He also thinks that bad timing and poor coordination have made Wasa work on laying sewage pipes a problem. "Wasa has failed to meet the deadline it set for itself because of lack of coordination among government agencies and poor monitoring by provincial and city government. Nobody is ready to take responsibility."

Wasa official on the other hand do not agree. Pervaiz Iftikhar deputy managing director Wasa Lahore says that Gulberg's existing sewerage system was laid down some 40 years ago and was unable to dispose off water of the area. "The diameter of the most of the old sewerage pipes is 6 inches -- laid to cater to the demand of early 1960s, when there were only a couple of hundred big houses in the area. With the passage of time, houses in Gulberg have been replaced by big plazas, shopping malls, offices and restaurants. The water usage in the area has also increased by many times for which the old sewerage system is not enough. If we did not start work in June, people would have to suffer a lot more," he says

Iftikhar adds we are now laying sewerage pipes of more than 12 inches of diameter. "This would help to drain rain water. It is right that project has been delayed but it is not affecting the cost of the project as the contractor is responsible to complete it within the funds we provide him. It is almost impossible for contractor to complete work in patches because different kind of labour is engaged for different activities.

The labourers who take out the old pipes cannot lay the new pipes.a If the contractor tries to complete it in patches, almost half of the labour will be charging him without working, he opines.

The city of Lahore was host to a regional 'Hand-knotted Carpet Exhibition' from August 28 to August 31. The exhibition arranged by the Pakistan Carpet Manufacturers and Exporters Association (PCMEA), in collaboration with the Export Promotion Bureau of Pakistan (EPB), was a unique event that brought together carpet manufacturers and exporters from the region at one place.

It was heartening to note that around 140 foreign buyers had flown to this part of the world despite the travel warnings they had been hearing for the last many years. In a way they sent a message to others that it was quite safe to travel to Pakistan for business.

According to the organisers, there were 100 stalls in total. Most of these stalls were set up by Pakistani carpet exporters and a few by Indian and Chinese participants. Photography was not allowed, stall owners fearing copying of designs.

Lahore was selected as venue of this exhibition for the reason that stockists of around 85 per cent of the total carpets produced in Pakistan are based here. In short, this city is the hub of hand-knotted carpet trade. Carpets produced all over the province are brought here to be shipped to international destinations. Among major carpet producing stations, Faisalabad, Shahkot, Jhang and Dera Ghazi Khan are the most prominent ones. Apart from Punjab, there exists carpet weaving industry in Sindh, mostly in Karachi and Hyderabad, and parts of NWFP where Afghan weavers form the major portion of the workforce. The exhibition brought those affiliated with this trade from all over the country to Lahore, facilitating interaction with foreign buyers, representatives of the state and their competitors in the region.

Mian Muhammad Ashraf, spokesman for PCMEA, tells The News on Sunday that the exhibition has been a huge success. He says that during the exhibition, Pakistani exporters were able to secure orders worth US$18 million. Ashraf says the carpet export figure that had stood at US$288 million last year would be around US$300 million to US$310 million this year, thanks mainly to the deals made during the exhibition.

Ashraf says that the interest shown by foreign buyers has further boosted the morale of the representatives of carpet industry which is on its way to recovery. Pakistan's carpet exports had suffered a lot due to the child labour controversy some years back as well as the overall slump in business activity witnessed after the 9/11, he says. Ashraf tells that the carpet industry is fulfilling its social responsibility very well. In this respect, it has opened many schools in carpet weaving areas and taken effective steps to eliminate child labour. I can safely say that child labour in carpet industry will soon become a thing of the past, he says.

The carpet industry plays a major role in the economy of Pakistan. It earns precious foreign exchange for the economy as a well as reducing poverty in rural areas. Being a cottage industry, it engages whole family units in carpet weaving activities. Mostly, people work from home and hand over the final products to the staff deputed by their employers for this purpose.

Historians believe that carpet making was introduced to the region in the 11th century. This was the time when the first Muslim conquerors -- the Ghaznavids and the Ghauris invaded this part of the world. During the Mughal period, the carpets made in the Indo-Pak sub continent became so famous that traders from abroad came here to buy them.

Shahzad Fazal, Director Fazal Carpets, tells TNS that he has set up a warehouse abroad and markets Pakistani carpets to foreigners there. Being in the business for 30 long years, he says the major change he has observed over the last couple of years is that carpet manufacturers have become highly innovative. Unlike in the past, buyers want to see new designs developed every year. Previously, traditional designs of carpets would lure buyers for decades but things have changed now. Carpet designs change very quickly, like happens in the fashion industry, he adds.

Shahzad says that most popular Pakistani designs abroad are Bukhara, Saroob, Chobi, Qazzak etc. Most of these carpet designs in Pakistan have Persian influence whereas those woven by Afghan craftsmen have their own admirers. He says the industry suffered a huge loss with the repatriation of Afghan refugees to their homeland. Hundreds of thousands of Afghans associated with this industry, many of them weavers, returned to their country, he says. But soon after arrival in Afghanistan, most of the refugees found it impossible to survive in unfavourable conditions prevailing in their country. Therefore, they decided to return to Pakistan and things started improving. Shahzad says now carpet exporters are conducting training of Pakistan's indigenous workforce in which the trainees are taught the art of weaving Afghan-style carpets.

About the increasing competition, Fazal says it is high time the government announces incentives for this industry. These may include availability of export refinance at low rates, competitive exchange rates, grant of Research & Development (R&D) fund to the industry and revival of rebate offer to carpet exporters. The rebate on carpet industry is 0.69 per cent which is negligible. Once it used to be as high as 18 per cent, he says adding even if the government announces 10 per cent rebate for carpet exporters, they will easily beat their competitors like India and China very easily. These countries have full backing of their governments and enjoy privileges unheard of in Pakistan. The Indian exhibitors are offering carpets at rates 15 to 20 per cent lower than those demanded by Pakistani exhibitors for similar products, he adds.

The Chinese carpet industry as compared to India and Pakistan is much younger but cheap labour is an asset that gives it strength to compete with regional competitors. History says Chinese did not start weaving carpets till late 13th century. The reason being that woollen rugs made in China were used only by the Mongols. Chinese took wool as a barbarian material and preferred silk, a material they had specialised in for over 4,000 years.

Federal Minister of State for Commerce Hamid Yar Hiraj has appreciated Pakistani carpet industry representatives for making the event a success. He says the government is planning to set up a carpet city in Lahore to boost an industry that provides jobs to 1.5 million people in the country. Other demands of the carpet industry will also be considered by the government to help this sector grow, he promises.

The lawns of Lahore Fort and Shalimar Gardens have been given a facelift

By Sarmad Sufian

Doing away with past ghosts and politics, amongst other issues, PHA is once again geared up to do what it is supposed to do best.

The department recently completed the task of beautifying both Shalimar Gardens and Lahore Fort lawns in last week of August. The revived monuments pose a picture perfect depiction of spring in bloom with lush green lawns, beautiful landscaping and pretty flowers. Following some final touches the monuments will be handed over to the Punjab archeological department for maintenance.

The two monuments, with the Lahore Fort spanning an area of 24.16 acres of gardens, and Shalimar Gardens having an area of 37.43 acres of gardens, have been restored at an approximate cost of RS 33.7 million of which RS 19.7 million have been spent on Shalimar Gardens and RS 13.9 million on the Lahore Fort.

An independent irrigation system with a tubewell and a water tank of 20,000 gallons has been set up at Shalimar Gardens owing to failure of the previous one. The previous system had been set up by a canal engineer in 1649. An irrigation system with a 10,000 gallon capacity has also been developed in the Lahore Fort. Along with the installation of tubewells and overhead water tanks in each monument, both the monuments have been equipped with 40 water hydrants each for watering the lawns.

The charge of beautifying the landscape of the historical monuments was handed over to PHA in 2004, following a decision to allow the Provincial Government to take over charge of the monuments from the Federal Government.

According to the DG PHA Shabbir Ahmad, the task was a tough one as the department had to keep into view the structure and layout of these monuments. He said the initial planning phase was the toughest as a detailed study of the sub-soil and the existing plantations had to be conducted following which expert opinions were sought from India and other countries where beautification work has been conducted on historical monuments, in order to realize the implications and logistics involved in undertaking the task.

The soil around the two monuments has been replaced with more fertile soil. PHA officials informed that while a lot of new plants were added many of the old trees and plants had also been retained.

With the work completed, the handing over is expected to take place later in September. The Lahore Fort and Shalimar Gardens will now be regulated under the control of the Punjab Government via Directorate General of Archeology whereas the task of boosting their tourism has been given to the secretary Information and Culture.

Mood Street'

Yesterday I saw two policemen, of the newfangled Muhafiz Force, running lustily on jail road, flashing bared pistols. I was impressed. Something momentous, certainly dangerous was toward. When I mentioned this to my colleagues today, they wondered who the policemen could be running away from.

The police have a hard deal in Lahore. It is impossible for them to appear glamorous. I tried to think of the various qualities one associates with them, and here's what I came up with: comical, flustered, avaricious, sinister, threatening, secretive, pitiful, hassled, reluctantly courageous... but, alas, not glamorous. It could be that policefolk show to good effect only against the curvy white beaches of Miami, amid a miasma of cocaine and white sands, or framed against the lugubrious apartments and sleets of New York. The police cannot acquire the magnitude or freedom of movement proper to them in a city where any vigorous movement in the street is likely to be reduced to a bad tempered jostle.

As I went home in the evening, I saw another policeman, a traffic constable this time, in action. He was blocking one of the two lanes of a road, for no reason which was apparent or given to the commuters. I'd say manfully blocking, except that he had held his hankie to the lower part of his face, a gesture now habitual to our pollution-plagued constables. This, and what next happened to him -- a motorcyclist whose arm he had grabbed tugged himself free of his grasp and made off past the barricade... gave me a sense that this was a scene from another kind of melodrama altogether. Not the arm of the law being shaken off by a mighty lawbreaker, but an urgent shy entreaty being refused by an impatient friend.

My third epiphanic vision of the police was at the airport. Now the airport is a place where it's hard for policemen to stand out, there being so many of them. But two men of the Elite Force strolling still managed to make themselves remarkable by the cavalier way they held their guns. Yet they were not glamorous. What, I wonder, was missing? They looked strong, ruthless, even menacing. Perhaps glamour requires you to look as if you're conscious of being looked at, of performing an action or striking a pose that will be searched by other eyes.

The police do not care abut appearances. They find it unusually easy to be their true, spontaneous selves. This would account for certain aspects of their behaviour. Their guns, for instance, are frequently seen held at provocative, threatening angles. Jutting out of the open sides of pickups, for instance. If they were aware of the glaring symbolic significance of this, you would certainly expect to see a few blushes on police cheeks here and there. In police school somebody must have impressed on them the importance of never bearing their arms in a discreet manner. Who's going to look at you?, some wise instructor might have said. So the police don't mean to show off, or to intimidate citizens. From the constable effacing himself behind the hankie, to the serious looking brandisher of weapons who swings his gun to and fro, they are not conscious of being looked at, they exist in a kind of sublime unselfconsciousness.

Explanations vary, but here is how one of them goes. For many years traffic police in Lahore had been thinking about ways to contribute to the on-going enlightened moderation drive. They were unable to agree on a single measure that could bring out the liberal streak in them. Until some Smart Alec in the department showed the rest the way.

President Pervez Musharraf must have taken notice of the experiment being conducted on the Mall as he descended to Lahore from the hills on September 1. At various squares of the road, motorists are barred from taking the right turn which has brought a fundamental change in how they perceive their immediate future. They have no option but either to stay straight or turn left, with the traffic policemen playing as moderators. It could have been 'no left turns' instead, but that could have sent a wrong signal to the world.

I say that Pervez Musharraf must have taken note of the change because I know that he is very mindful of signs in the city he lived in as a college boy. On one of his previous visits to Lahore he was disturbed by a rightwing political party's presence on the campus, borne out by a series of banners along a stretch of the canal. A mini crackdown on the student wing of that party followed and the news is that efforts to free the campus of its hold continue. Ostensibly at least, for a colleague tells me that boys still get beaten up by boys at being seen hanging around on the campus with girls.

The traffic policemen are careful in what they are doing. They call their no-right policy an experiment, the venue of which one more time establishes just how much importance the Mall enjoys in official circles. But the question is: if the Mall is so important, why don't we carry out experiments elsewhere before we implement them here?

On the Mall, God knows for how long the Lahoris have been complaining that the development seekers, beautifiers, converters, experimenters et al needed to shift their gaze from this road because their advances were fast depriving it of its very essence.

One of the recent developments in this regard is the Punjab government's decision to carve out parking space for Assembly members from territory belonging to the Lahore Zoo, amid reports that plans were afoot to sell certain pieces of land along the mall for development of hotels. As far as post-independence additions go, there is a whole list of buildings that detract from the Mall's character, and the issue again is, why this obsession with the Mall?

I am not very fond of the Wapda House, of the expressionless tablet that stands to its side commemorating the holding of the Islamic Summit Conference of 1974 and of the Alfalah building which reminds me of the huge radios that we once used to have. While there may be people who would argue for these three constructions, having developed personal associations with these, most agree that the State Bank could have spent its money better as it went about building a place for itself next to the Lahore High Court. The two do not compliment each other and the shift from the past to the contemporary is painfully abrupt. By all indications more such shocks are in store for us.