Sir, I want to draw your attention towards the unhygienic conditions prevailing in government schools. I am an ex-student of Khatoon-i-Pakistan Government School, located in front of Aga Khan Hospital. It used to be one of the premier educational institutions in Karachi. Being a nationalised school, most of the students either come from lower-middle class or poor families.

The washrooms in the school have become very sordid and deteriorated. Water taps are either not available or not in order.

Sewerage lines are choked. Dirty water relentlessly overflows and sometimes gushes into the classrooms. There are no washbasins to wash hands, what to talk about soap. Due to the defective and ill-maintained sewerage system all the washrooms have been destroyed and are not useable.

Since the school administration seems to have an absence of interest in remedying the situation, I request the city and Sindh governments to take note of it and initiate appropriate measures to repair the washrooms so that proper hygienic conditions are provided.

WAJIHA NIZAM Karachi

Misplaced priorities

Sir, Some time ago the Sindh governor was due to arrive in our neighbourhood for the inauguration of a park. Before the arrival of the dignitary the local officials made serious efforts to fix a bad patch of road which was in dire need of repair.

Why were sudden and abrupt steps taken for the cleanliness of the area and repair of the road? Why did the broken road not attract the attention of officials before? The rulers must realise that citizens make the government, the government does not make citizens. Due to the expected visit of the governor the problems in our area such as carpeting of broken roads and cleanliness were quickly resolved. If the governor had not been scheduled to visit the area, we are sure the issues would have remained.

This attitude needs to change.

MUZNA JAWED North Nazimabad

Traffic signals

Sir, In Karachi, the functioning of traffic signals is very irregular. Even during the rush hours, the traffic lights of many of the city’s major roads are often not working, either due to power failure or because they are out of order. At night, too, traffic signals discontinue to operate after 11pm. Moreover, on many occasions there is no traffic police or city wardens who can take charge of the situation and control the traffic.

This leads to traffic jams and even accidents. Naturally, when there is no red light to stop the coming traffic, then no one waits for their turn and everyone wants to cross the road first. When this happens, motorists from all the four sides of an intersection move simultaneously in order to cross the road, but ultimately get stuck up. In a hasty attempt to be the first ones to pass through the junction, they become the cause of great inconvenience for others as well as for themselves. It is due to this that we witness lengthy traffic jams everyday.

Traffic signals are installed on every road and intersection to facilitate the smooth flow of vehicles and prevent traffic jams. But to accomplish this they must also work properly throughout the day and night. Especially in a metropolis like Karachi — where there are vehicles on the road 24 hours a day — there is no room for faulty traffic signals.

MADIHA VIQUAR PECHS

Allotment of plots

Sir, My elder brother is a very senior government servant having retired in the 1980s. He is a member of the PECHS, Karachi, but has not been allocated any plot in lieu of plots allotted earlier. He is in his late 80s and wishes for early allotment of plot.The PECH Society, in their annual meeting held two years ago, highlighted the point of allotment of plots to non-allottee members.

But last year they surprisingly removed the issue altogether from their agenda.

It is requested that the matter be taken up with the authorities concerned so that the non-allottee members in their 80s may get relief by getting plots allotted.

QAZI MASOOD-UL-HAQ Karachi

COD speed breaker

Sir, A speed breaker was built at COD, Rashid Minhas Road, a few months ago. It is made of bricks and has three stages; each stage has several lines of bricks. This breaker literally stops the flow of traffic. It is so bumpy that each and every part of the body and the vehicle move from their original position.

In normal days at least 15 minutes are required to cross this hurdle while during busy periods it takes half an hour.

The concerned authorities are requested to remove this breaker and save the time and millions of rupees of ordinary Pakistanis.

WASIM AKHTAR Karachi mailbag@dawn.com