- Shouldering the dam burden
No doubt when Pakistan overcomes its water problems, hopefully, the present chief justice of the Supreme Court will be remembered as the focal person for not just raising awareness but also going from pillar to post to collect the actual money. Clearly, he likes to put his muscle where his mouth is; and has left few stones un-turned to push various government departments to do their jobs in the right manner and spirit. It’s altogether another matter, however, if all efforts made so far – by the CJ as well as the PM – have not brought us any closer to erecting the reservoirs we so desperately need.
For one thing, the required amount is so large that any manner of donations is unlikely to get the job done. For another, our repeated bouts with devaluation – with more expected if we should embrace Fund austerity shortly – routinely push down the dollar value of our collected funds; taking the whole process two steps back every now and then. But that is not to imply that the exercise is futile. Even if, at the worst, it fails to achieve its target, it would still have gone a long way both in terms of contribution and awareness; with the latter also contributing, in no small amount, to water preservation all the while we do not have the dams.
However, hopefully the CJ will approach judicial reforms with the same fervour at some point in the short time he has left in office. Whenever he’s questioned about the matter, as surely he was in London, the answer has implied that the process, very important indeed, is in the works. To silence critics, the CJ is expected to make quantifiable progress in his own institution as well; lest he be painted as the do-good judge who tried to sort out everything except his own back yard.