Testing times for Islamabad’s Mayor

With the election of a Mayor for Islamabad the entire complexion of civic affairs of the federal capital was bound to change and so it has.Up till recently either the chairman CDA or the Chief Commissioner used to call the shots in the administration of CDA.Now the elected mayor has come in.The question of distribution of administrative powers concerning day to day affairs of Islamabad has ariseno .If experience of hindsight is to be any guide the best course should be that all civic matters be made the exclusive concern of the The mayor who happens to be the elected representative of the people of Islamabad.The question is:Is there any need of retaining the post of Chairman CDA?Would it not amount to duplication and cold war between him and the elected mayor?Why should it not be disbanded and all functions which are being performed by him are handed over to the Mayor?The Chief Commissioner should be asked by the government to place at his disposal sufficient number of municipal magistrates for implementing local and special laws.In point of fact the post of the CDA chairman in the presence of elected mayor becomes redundant.Necessary legal amendments,if needed in the matter,be carried out pronto.The Chief Commissioner should only concentrate on law and order of the federal capital.He should have nothing to do with the civic matters as well as developmental works.The Mayor of Islamabad has a lot on his hands.He has to take urgent steps in improving the sanitary conditions of the capital which have been going from bad to worse.He has to come down with a heavy hand on the grown and growing encroachments on government land with the tacit connivance of the concernced CDA staff.He has to put a stop to the mushroom growth of the housing colonies in the federal capital as a result of which the CDA is finding it difficult to cope with them.He
has to set CDA’s house in order first.Its functionaries have been themselves violating its charter with rare abandon since its creation.Its service structure is so attractive that umpteen government servants from other departments have been getting themselves inducted into it by using the clout of politicians.Many of its employees exist on papers only .Many of them are moonlighters.
The inefficiency of the employees of CDA is visible in the poor performance of its sanitary department.There are encroachments galore on government land Unauthorised occupation of government land without any let and hindrance by any Tom,Dick and Harry ——–thanks to either negligence or connivance of the building and land department of the CDA has been the order of day.There is no control of the CDA ,whatever,on private drilling for locating under ground for use in the sprawling new habitations.