Comments on: Abul Hathi in Karachi

By: Owais Mughal

Owais Mughal — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 18:27:57 +0000

This discussion on this post has gone in an unintended direction :) I chose to share this post b/c i thought it was funny (and dangerous?) how this elephant has been temporarily supported. I am sure once the road is re-carpeted, this elephant will also get its feet on the ground :)

As far as development priorities in the city, i agree with a commentator that clean drinking water should take priority over building fountains.

I however, do not agree that building new parks should not be a priority. I believe Parks and Open Spaces are as much needed for a healthy population as any other utilities.

By: Aiz

Aiz — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 18:01:53 +0000

This is certainly a good measure by Karachi government. I understand the reason why so many people here are against this kind of beautification project. However, you need to understand that apart from access to basic needs of life such as food, water, shelter etc., one also needs to feel good about the environment you live in. If the area you live in is not beautiful, abundant supply of basic needs will not make you happy and healthy. It is a psychological factor that most of us don’t understand. I would be more concerned about graffiti and bird poop on this elephant than I’d be about how Karachi got the funds to secure this kind of project.

@ Roxio, I have heard about the Disney project near Karachi but I have no idea what stage it is in or if it still moving forward or not. However, any such facility is not run on public funds. These would be private investments and will bring in thousands of jobs. Those thousands or people will in turn keep thousands more employed. This is a cycle that funds itself. There is no use of public funds in this cycle. It will only bring financial freedom to people of Karachi as long as we can get more people to visit this place and keep the terrorists out. I may be wrong and government may be investing in this project but the benefits provided by keeping thousands employeed will far exceed the amount invested.

By: shakeel

shakeel — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 13:49:07 +0000

This is ridiculous amount of money and for what? So that a few wealthy group can enjoy Disneyland Pakistan? This is ridiculous.

The money should be used to improve structure of the city.

300 crores can be used wisely to improve roads, water system, built few schools and similar projects which can easily create some thousands of jobs.

It’s no rocket science but the mayor wants Karachi to be the next Dubai .. I guess a Disneyland would achieve that goal.