Forgotten River

FEBRUARY 2001 - As Lahore braces itself for the festival of festival playing host to thousands of visitors who are converging on the city, there is an air of celebration and the city is dressed up in multiple colours. This is the weekend when there will be parties, outings and get togethers, in public and private places and with some of the country’s celebrated crackpots calling for an end to this pagan festival and others deriding its high costs, the scene is complete.

The Punjab government, which on the one hand, owns and spearheads the entire festival, has also chosen to play a double role in the debate that has come up. What it can hope to achieve from this is anybody’s guess. When criticized for supporting the Basant festival, the Governor has reportedly said that they weren’t officially endorsing the festival, only the Spring Festival under which the Basant festival falls! It is for such fine thinking that he is the Governor and lives in that rather large estate which should be made into a university, hotel or public library or performing arts center. Instead, it continues to nurture and enlarge the colonial legacy. Indeed, word has reached Lahore that the government in Sindh has banned the Basant festival! No wonder most Pakistanis are confused most of the time, not knowing when to walk or when to run, when to talk and when to shut up.

Mr. Lashari has lashed Lahore with popular culture and there is no need to outline the million things that are happening in the city to mark the season of festivity. There are so many events to choose from that if anything, visitors will have a hard time selecting which ones to opt for. That is all very well and full marks to him for organizing so much for the pleasure of the people. While the debate rages on why the trees of Lahore have been made to dress up as dancing girls and the experimental art that makes the Lahore Canal look like the back street of a shady district in a western town, there are two diverse aspects of this time of the year that need some thinking.

First, is the petition moved by Mr. M.D.Tahir, the champion of lost causes. From what one understands, he has moved the High Court to prevent Mr. Lashari from taking over the Lahore Fort and Shalimar Gardens for this week’s festival. If this is true and Mr. Lashari had wanted to take over the two sites for public festivals, there is much to be disturbed about. It is fairly common knowledge that both sites are now on the endangered list and are in a very fragile state. Were it not for a handful of dedicated and devoted people from the Archaeology Department, who keep fighting for such places, they would have long gone. Kamran’s Baradari is a glittering example of murdering our real heritage. It is hard to understand let alone believe that Mr. Lashari wanted to get the sites any way, knowing fully well that it would be a terrible disservice to the country and its historical sites. It is also known that the Sheesh Mahal is gone. Apparently the great shamianas and tents under which their lordships cavorted, were harnessed to this beautiful but fragile building and the resultant damage is beyond repair now. Earlier last month there was speculation that both the Fort and Shalimar were up for sponsorship but nothing much happened after that, so it is possible that what Mr. Tahir has done was more in the way of preemption, but the point still is why did he have to take legal recourse? Of all the people, Mr.Lashari should publicly declare where he draws the line.

The second concerns the forgotten river of Lahore, the Ravi. It is ironic, but quite understandable, that while millions are poured into adorning roads, parks, streets and localities, a couple of miles away, one of the world’s ugliest rivers struggles on, contaminated with sewage, industrial effluents, chemicals, detergents, solvents and human refuse. It is said that almost 3.5 million cusec tons of waste is emptied into the river from unauthorized factories and pumping stations. The years of criminal neglect have killed all living things in what was once a majestic river, which gave the city its unique identity. From almost 42 species of fresh water fish alone – the Rohi, Mori, Thela, Gulfam, Mahi and Salva, not a single variety exists. There is no such thing as Lahore fish, so next time you are relishing it in Food Street, remember if its come from the Ravi, you will keel over in a few minutes. Lahore fish is a myth now.

We have all destroyed perhaps the city’s proudest icon, the river that flowed past it. Fruits gardens along the river produced the finest fruits and vegetables grown from the fresh and healthy waters of the Ravi, were known for their taste and quality. People thronged the river for picnics and outings and both the river and the city lived on the best of terms, but all that is gone. In a matter of a few years, we have successfully killed the river all that flourished in it and around it and also killed a way of life that flowed from the great river. Instead, we now have a large poisonous and dangerous gutter that we still call a river. None of the government departments under whose jurisdiction the river’s well being lie, have done anything, if you will forgive the expression, to discharge their duties. The neglect and indifference have taken their toll. The Environment Protection Department or is it Prevention – it doesn’t matter really, has not even conducted a single lab test of the river’s polluted waters for the last five years, according to a newspaper report! Why are we squandering billions on such departments is another matter, but since cleaning the river is next to impossible, why can’t we at least disband all these useless fossils and save some money to adorn some more trees on The Mall?

Perhaps Mr. Lashari and others who are vested with power to do things, might launch a fund to clean the river, once the euphoria of Basant is over and the last chicken bone has been tossed on the street. It may be a far more enduring thing than flying kites.