Overcrowded cities

Fleeting moments

Our mega cities have witnessed a phenomenal growth in their population as more people are shifting from small towns and villages to big cities.

The predominant reason for people leaving their ancestral dwellings and shifting to major cities is the lack of employment opportunities and health and education facilities in rural areas. Consequently, mass migration takes a heavy toll on the existing civic amenities of life in large cities.

The rural-urban migration is causing problems, such as overcrowding in cities and a host of other social and economic issues. It’s ironic that elected governments are more inclined to develop high-profile projects, such as metro buses, orange trains and main roads in cities rather than controlling the population growth, establishing proper health and education facilities, and providing employment opportunities in rural areas. The reason for this is easy to understand. While projects that are highly visible are more likely to translate into votes, efforts to provide health and education facilities in rural areas would largely remain unnoticed.

The only way people can be prevented from moving from rural to urban areas is if they are provided job opportunities and education and health facilities near their homes. In many shops in Lahore, for instance, one finds Seraiki-speaking cashiers and salesmen who left their homes to find lowly jobs to sustain themselves. Lahore has a teeming population. Existing civic facilities, especially in the public health sector, are falling short of the requirements. When too many people vie for limited opportunities, an apathetic attitude and callousness towards for human life set in.

There was a time in late 1960s when the Forman Christian College, where I studied, and the Punjab University campus were on the fringes of the city. People hesitated to drive along the canal ahead of the university campus after dark for fear of being waylaid. Only dating enthusiasts, adventurous as they always are, were found there.

Now the same canal bank roads remain choked with traffic most of the time and, worse yet, a group of protesting university students often keep them blocked. The students protest against whatever piques them. The reasons are endless. Sometimes they protest against the HEC for not recognising the subjects they have taken up. At times, they are up in arms because their exam papers are based on material that is out of the course, the marking process is too strict or they simply don’t like their professors.

However, the population census planned for next year will reveal how many times the population has increased. The public-spirited leaders plan and think about public well-being years ahead of time. In order to arrest the trend of migration from rural areas to large cities, the government should provide incentives and opportunities for livelihood in the rural areas.

Establishing new cities would also be a good idea. No government has done this so far. When the motorway was being constructed, there was much talk of how new cities and industrial towns would be developed along the route. An ideal location to set up an industrial city exists on the infertile land between Bhera along the Motorway and the Salt Range.

When governing large populations becomes a problem, it’s advisable to decentralise governance and divide large provinces into manageable administrative units. Call them provinces if you will, but without the pomp of sprawling governor mansions and palatial GORs – the legacy of the British Raj that we have dutifully followed without maintaining the mores of administrative efficiency.

Why go that far? Even in the 1960s and 1970s, there was discipline in the air of the city. The traffic was orderly in Lahore. Nobody dared to challenge the Anglo-Indian traffic sergeants on their large Harley Davidson motorcycles. But now, an MPA’s relative can beat up a traffic warden on duty because he dared to take action against him for violating one-way traffic rules. Instead of being roughed up, the warden should have been patted on the back for doing his duty. But this would be too much to expect of our so-called ruling class, which is cut from a different cloth. How can this class feel superior to common citizens if it behaves just like them?

The writer is a freelance columnist based in Lahore.

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