Mumtaz Ahmed  Bhatti

Every year, federal and provincial governments across Pakistan make development plans and start working on them at a cost of trillions of rupees. It is important to make development plans and start their construction, but maintaining the quality of development projects and bringing development projects to completion according to the set standards is a very important and difficult task. Completing development projects under construction on time is an even more difficult task. But unfortunately the set standards are not maintained and no development project is completed on time. Bureaucracy engineers, consultants and monitors play a vital role from the beginning to the completion of development projects. Above all, it is important for the rulers to have an understanding of about development projects. There was a time when there was an impression about Sindh and Balochistan that development projects in Sindh and Balochistan start and end in files instead of being built on land. And the quality of the development projects that are made on the ground is so bad that they fall into disrepair shortly after completion. Bilawal Bhutto took note of this and nominated Syed Murad Ali Shah for the post of Chief Minister. Syed Murad Ali Shah himself is a civil engineer and Bilawal Bhutto Zardari also showed seriousness in improving the quality of development projects which is why today Sindh is ahead of all other provinces in terms of quality of development projects. Once upon a time, Punjab was at the top in terms of quality of development projects. Bilawal Bhutto Zardari not only puts constant pressure on Sindh Chief Minister to improve the quality of development projects but also keeps a close eye on development projects. When I received the news that Bilawal Bhutto Zardari is taking interest in improving the quality of development projects in Sindh due to which the quality of development projects is not only improving but also at the top among the provinces in terms of quality of development projects. So I went to all the provinces and made a program to visit and write on some development projects. First I went to Sindh and chose Thar Desert first. went to the rural area a little beyond Umarkot and Mithi. There were huge RO plants from where people were filling water according to their needs. Donkeys were carrying water bottles on carts. Most importantly, the pumps, motors, pipes and electric panels installed on water supply projects in Umerkot, Mathi and their rural areas were of high quality. The PPP provincial government has done a lot of work on development projects but unfortunately the Sindh government has not been able to publicize its development projects in the media. I will mention one project and I will write the rest of the projects in detail very soon. A huge Rice Canal flows from the city of Larkana. In this canal the sewage water of the whole city was discharged into this canal and the sewage of the medical college of the same city was also discharged into this canal. People of Larkana city and its adjoining villages, Dadu city and all the villages connected to it used water of this canal. Pets drank water from this canal. Due to the use of polluted water of this canal, the people and animals of the towns and villages connected to this canal were suffering from dangerous diseases. The Sindh government has set up a major sewerage project to divert water from the entire city and the medical college through pumping stations and use it for agriculture, making it fit for cultivation after treatment. While Bilawal Bhutto, Murad Ali Shah and Provincial Minister Syed Nasir Hussain Shah have worked hard to standardize the quality of work of development projects, the struggle of secretaries and engineers is also involved. There are some complaints about the quality of work in some places but it is necessary to discuss with the engineers who are working on these places. It was also famous about Balochistan that development projects in Balochistan are not only on the ground but also in files and all the funds are distributed and eaten. But in reality it is not at all. I have also seen some projects in Balochistan whose quality of work is much better. We have seen highway projects in Quetta city and some areas near the city. The best projects in terms of quality have not been seen even in Punjab. Similarly, seeing the opportunity to see some public health engineering water supply projects in Sibi, Naseerabad, Jaffarabad, Sobatpur, it became clear that the quality of development projects has improved a lot and the quality is improving day by day. But there are also complaints of corruption in some areas. That, too, needs attention.

Much has been going on since the arrival of Abdul Qaddos Bizenjo’s government. In the previous government, development funds were given to the unelected people and the elected members were ignored due to which they became tolerant and joined Abdul Qaddos Bizenjo instead of Jam Kamal. During the three years of Jam Kamal’s tenure, the targets set in the Provincial PSDP have not been met. It was not immediately clear who was at fault. Non-provision of funds or something else. Now it is necessary to take a detailed look at what has improved during the rule of Abdul Qaddos Bizenjo. What the provincial governments and the federal government should pay the utmost attention to is that all the projects under construction which are not being completed due to non-availability of funds, should be completed as soon as possible by releasing immediate funds for these projects. The completion period set for development plans and the promises to release funds should be followed in the same way. At present, thousands of development projects across Pakistan are not being completed due to lack of funds. Development projects should be started as soon as the government has the resources. Delays in disbursement of funds to development projects lead to disaster. Excessive delays in disbursement of funds lead to revision of development funds which doubles or even increases their cost. This is also a national loss. In any project where evidence of corruption is found and corruption is proved, action must be taken against the engineer of the department but the consultant and the contractor should also be held responsible. Everyone knows that the salaries paid to engineers are insufficient. The fuel given to them for one year for movement is not enough even for two months. SDOs and sub-engineers do not have vehicles or motorbikes. To this day, no one has thought about how they would go to the sites. When you do not provide the necessary facilities and salaries to the engineers, then there will be claims to stop corruption but it will not stop corruption. If the quality of development projects in Sindh and Balochistan is improving then the governments of Sindh and Balochistan should pay full attention to development projects and take action against any bureaucrat or engineer who commits corruption without any discrimination so that the quality of development projects does not go down. The way Sindh and Balochistan have surpassed Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in terms of quality of development projects is just tremendous. Sindh is first and Balochistan is second. This is commendable.