The Guava Tree

 

This is a unique Guava Tree on our doorstep that produces “unripe” fruit! Yes, the unripe, green and hard guavas are plucked by the young working girls and their mothers (housemaids), bitten repeatedly and devoured immediately by them. Sometimes, their moms help them when the girls are unable to extend their small arms to pluck the fruit even if they try to raise themselves by standing on their toes.

When we relocated from the official residence to our newly constructed house in the year 2020, a 200 square yard area, the only green piece of patch we could develop, according to the bylaws of housing society, was outside of our house, on either of the shoulders of 12 feet wide road the house is located on. We planted some fruit trees on it: A Guava tree on the side of our house, and a Fig and two Lemon trees the other shoulder across the street. Besides, other flowery plants and trees on both shoulders were also planted.

The guava tree has grown into a sizeable height (about 10-12 ft.) since then and is still growing tall. It started giving fruits in nearly a year after its plantation. There are plenty of other fig and lemon trees in our area comprising about 700 houses (more than half of them are already under occupation) but I’m yet to find any other guava tree here.

The guava fruit is very common in Pakistan and its production occurs mostly in the winter season. The sweet and tasty guavas of Larkana, Sindh are very famous in the country. The “ewer” shaped of these guavas is peculiar and distinct from other “round” shaped guavas grown in the rest of the country. It is comparatively priced cheaper than other fruits like Apple, Pomegranate, Grapes, etc. I can fairly say that people from across all the income groups, including the lower income groups, consume a large quantity of guava every year. Unfortunately, it becomes very expensive during the month of Ramadhan due to its high demand, and unethical and illegal hoarding by the venders.

Since our guava tree is planted and raised on the State land therefore, anyone passing through the street can see the guavas hanging on the branches of the tree, and hence, they cannot resist themselves from plucking them. Sometimes, neighbors and passersby seek our permission for plucking them. We haven’t barred anyone from plucking the fruits though, and consider the tree as a public property.

This guava tree is particularly very attractive to the housemaids and their children equally who swarm the housing society, coming from the nearby slums, for their paid jobs (cleaning, laundry, cooking, etc.) every day in the morning time for working in the houses. They do not let the guavas turn fully ripened. These people pluck them instead, as soon as they think the fruit can be eaten even if the same is harder, green (yet to turn ripe, change the color from greenish to yellowish and become softer) and unripe.

Initially, we tried to convince the children and maids to wait till the fruit gets fully ripened but the temptation of plucking a fresh guava has been just too strong for them even if it was not ready. Besides, it costs nothing and they have all the liberty to pluck the fruits. We just watch their glowing and ecstatic faces joyfully and blissfully.

Deserted Parental Homes!

 

“The home is where your parents are.”

We all have been blessed to have grown up in homes in the presence (as well as in the guidance) and under the blessings of our parents. It’s every household story, and it is a natural process and happens everywhere around the world. As the children grow into adults, the pursuit of higher education, lucrative jobs, other commitments and some peculiar circumstances compel them to seek new vistas; moving from a village to a town, to a sizable city, and to a large city where opportunities abound, and even, to overseas, the developed countries. Initially, they move temporarily, not sure of their future prospects, but with the passage of time, the migration translates and transcends into perpetuity.

My grandfather lived in a small village devoid of any amenities or utilities in early 1900s. He didn’t undergo any formal education. My father, born in the same village, was the only lucky child of the entire village to travel to a nearby small town for attending middle school. By virtue of it, he managed to get a fairly good white-collared clerical job in the post-partition era.

My elder brother and me were also born in the same village but soon our father took his family along with him and moved to the town for enrolling his children in the school for starting formal education in an effort to make them educated and better citizens. The journey undertaken by our father from a small village to a town was to become a repetitive act in our family history of next 100 years; village to a town, to a city, to a larger city, and to a new country(s).

Unfortunately, the adage “The home is where your parents are” was no longer valid neither for our father nor our generation and so on; all new/subsequent parents preferred their children’s future over their old parents. But, father had had an escape; our grandparents were already dead when he moved us to the town. My justification (lame maybe) could be that I studied away from the home, and then during my entire job career I never get posted at or near our parental town.

At the age of 18, I left my hometown for the university education in a larger city. It was perceived that completion of my education will bring me back to our hometown, parental home, but it did not happen. My job, commencing immediately after completion of the education, required me to remain stay away from the home and live at different places across the country all along the working career. My other siblings also went through almost similar conditions. In the next 10-15 years, everyone was living at a new place, in their respective independent home. Our parental home, became deserted, and eventually it was sold out. About 20 years later, history repeated itself as our home became deserted after our children moved away for better future prospects.

The disintegration of families always take place irrespective of whether the parents are alive or not but there are, of course, some exceptions around when families never disintegrated, they lived like a well knitted unit and thrived peacefully.

In the last decade of 1900s and during the early new century i.e. 2000s, we were acting as parents and our children beamed about the axiom: “The home is where your parents are.” We, me and the better half, however, without lamenting the future consequences, knew that we were destined to meet the same fate what our parents and grandparent went through!

About five years ago, I started building a new house for our family. We moved into it as soon as it completed within a year. We settled down into it with three people only; me, my better half and one of the four children. Three elder children, already married, with their kids, moved away to settle in Europe, North America and Down Under. Their migration to the overseas is well under our encouragement and blessings. The youngest child, married last year, is living within the same city but a strong aspirant of moving out of the country too.

The clutter and chatter, laughter and shouts, hugs and pushes, cellphones and videogames, and sleepless nights and lively daytime of our four children slowly waned away as they grew up and stepped into their respective practical lives. It was time for them to establish their respective new homes (new parental homes), leaving behind their ageing parents to sit back and relish memories of their children in a deserted house which used to bustle with their presence!

We, me and wife, are living and surviving the old age journey together. Our respective parents’ homes did not survive. Our home has also begun crumbling. One can always raise a query that why did we encourage our children to move abroad, the answer is simple: Even if we didn’t do it, they would have done the same on their own. This country is not easy for younger generation to buy an honest and comfortable living. They have seen us struggling throughout our whole life.

The process of evolution is timeless and endless. Every new generation will focus on to have their lives better than what their respective parents had. Our parents had a better life than our grandparents. We lived a life far better than our parents did. Our children are faring quite well than us.

It’s time, our grandkids sung: “The home is where OUR parents are.” Next is great grandkids and so on.

WAPDA Officers’ Career Journey; Up and Down

 

It has been indeed, a privilege, working with prestigious Pakistan Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA) or to be precise, serving the nation through WAPDA, for 30 plus years. Beginning the journey in mid 1980s, I, like many other inductees, never wanted to continue working with WAPDA and kept making efforts to break away from it; firstly, through moving to some Western countries for higher studies, and/or secondly, shifting to some other provincial or federal organization during early years of working with this organization.  It never happened, and my roots with WAPDA became deeper and stronger with every passing year.

I do not know about working environment of other organizations in the country but while working here it was observed that WAPDA has developed into a leading engineering organization of the nation through a well-designed and disciplined set of rules and regulations that provide equal opportunities of rich desk-job and field experience coupled with a series of effective local and international training courses available to every employee of Grade 17 (and above) that helps them translating their knowledge and experience into developing their careers all along the years.

Nevertheless, there is a downside of this career development too. During an ascending career growth journey, the power and authority vested in a position build a snobbish attribute, bit by bit, in the officers at each step of the ladder. While officers, at any step in the career, remain humble and respectable to their seniors, they, knowingly or otherwise, treat their juniors oddly, harshly, and at times, disrespectfully. The career building process on this pattern keeps going on, unabatedly.

When reaching at the pinnacle of the career; holding the positions of Chief Engineers, General Managers, Project Directors, and Director Generals, etc., they consider themselves sailing in a boat that runs solely on their own skills and capabilities only. At this stage of the career when everyone working under them is harmonized on their instructions and orders, and everything happening around them works in accordance with their wishes, they touch the highest point of superiority, if not arrogance. Their ears tend to like hearing yes sir, yes sir, and their eyes enjoy frowned, scared, and flattery faces of the subordinate employees with artificial smiles, while their minds process the whole environment of “leading through dictating” as the “kind and friendly”.  This authoritative role or rule does not last long since they become oblivious of the retirement date that stalks around slowly but surely.

On the way up, they meet and attend some farewell (retirement) parties of their seniors, where they, when asked to speak, shower heaps of praises on the qualities and caliber of the outgoing fellows. They vow to receive their calls instantly should they need any help from them. This hardly and seldom works because their working circle does not include retired colleagues. The calls and texts from them went ignored and forgotten. The official and private lives are two different worlds and at different levels. They never converge at any point.

Once retired, the officers go through initial tremors in their lives. Unlike the growth process which moves upwards slowly over a span of decades, the retirement makes a landfall quickly and undesirably, on an eventful day.  It rendered the officer devoid of office protocols, removal of facilities like vehicles, drivers, and other unspecified favours. It feels hard to find themselves sitting on opposite side of the main chair (now occupying the visitors’ chair).

The very next day, the same sun rises again but a new world dawns for a retired officer. The real-life shocks of running the errands; driving your personal car for opening Pension account in a nearby Bank, visiting crowded Pension office, Revenue office (for free electricity supply), and National Savings Center, etc., waiting in long queues as an ordinary senior citizen and still not assured of getting your problems solved, are not easy to encounter with. The other possible haunting problems could be the vacation of official residence, finding a suitable rented portion, and financing educational expenses of your youngest children.

Besides, in their recent post-retirement scenario, one will bump into the reality that all those colleagues, still working in the organization, who promised to extend their helps, are not helpful at all due to various valid and invalid reasons. This reminds the hard fact of life; what goes around comes around.

Tervetuloa – Welcome to Finland

When a passenger plane descends for landing at any airport, everyone sitting at a window seat enjoys the view while looking down at the earth to observe rooftops of buildings, vehicles maneuvering on highways, treetops, forests, waterbodies, small or large, and sailing or stationary boats. People sitting near the window seat also succeed to manage a glance through the shoulder of the person sitting at window seat, not in entirety though, but a better part of it. Interestingly, passengers on aisle seats also (considering there are three seats on each side of the plane) straighten up their backs and pull their necks sideway to have a glimpse of the earth, in fact a view of horizon only, lasting may be a second or so.

But if you are travelling to Helsinki, Finland, then, rest assured, what you see through the window of plane is a breathtaking and a lovely sight of unending waterbodies and green forests. No high-rise buildings, no bald land. Mind it that above scenario is a depiction of summer, not winter.

As you walk through the large airport terminal premises, after landing, heading to arrival lounge, you come across a greeting term “Tervetuloa” written at many information and guiding signboards. Tervetuloa means Welcome. Welcome to Finland. Please remember this word because you will come across this word everywhere and wherever you go in Finland.

Finland is famous for many good reasons in the world; clean and pure air, peaceful and calm people, high literacy rate, best education institutions, especially for foreign students, less populated, forests all around, freshwater lakes and sea creeks, and last but not the least, the most famous and exciting to watch and experience in freezing cold of northern Finland: Aurora Borealis, the Northern Lights.

Why Finland is not a famous destination for international tourists is beyond comprehension. In spite of having all the necessary ingredients for making it one of the best destinations for the visitors, it is unfortunately lagging behind the major central European destinations including Norway. Whatever tourists make it to the Finland, they mostly come from Europe. Why it is so, it is hard to say! Maybe it is remotely located and too cold! Maybe it doesn’t have the famous fjords that Norway possesses in abundance. Maybe Finnish like it the way it is; less hustle and bustle!

We were here for the first time, visiting our elder son. The trip lasted for nearly one month, in two stints with a break of two weeks because we also visited our younger son in Berlin, and two nephews in Paris. Although we are back home in Pakistan about two months ago but memories of Finland still capturing our thoughts. It feels as if some part of us didn’t wish to come back home and stayed there, in Helsinki.

At this fanning age, it was not the shopping malls that attracted us anymore, rather we liked to sit on the bank of a large lake in calmness of tranquil waters before us and tall lush green trees watching us from the behind or sat at the bench at the seashore enjoying the sea breeze, sailing boats and looking at the horizon where islands’ trees met blue sky.

Helsinki was planned, designed and developed that way or it is a natural favour to the Finnish people that almost every neighborhood seems to possess a lake or sea creek along with a small forest, but large enough to go for long walk or run on a trail that runs like a serpentine through the tall trees. These trails are sporadically used and remain deserted most of the time and you will come across a few people coming from the opposite end. Everyone takes time to walk on these trails according to their schedule round the hour. These neighbourhoods have all kinds of sports facilities, indoor and outdoor, in all areas. Most of our afternoons, at least an hour daily, were spent on these trails along the nearby lake and sports arena. They might be missing us as well!

If patience had a shape, it could be depicted on Finnish people. You block their way, unintentionally though, on any entrance of the building, shop or elevator and they will wait silently. You will hardly hear a Finn requesting you “excuse me” on obstructing their way. If you noticed your mistake and looked at them sheepishly, they will simply smile back at you without being arrogant or showing annoyance. While commuting in a bus, tram or train they will remain tight lipped most of the time, not gossiping, discussing or even observing/stalking others. However, our son informed us that long, cold and dark winters have a severe impact on the population. People remain depressed and frustrated during winters. This is something we are looking forward to experience someday.

At restaurants, they do gossip a little but audible to the one sitting in close proximity to them only. They will keep talking lowly while enjoy their “own” large sized pizzas respectively. Yes, everyone buys their own large-sized pizza. At first sight it looked odd to us but then it was revealed that Finnish pizzas are normally prepared with quite a thin layer and thin topping, hence, a large sized pizza can be devoured by a single person easily. It is unlike Pakistan where if two people order a single large sized pizza and consume it fully, they will move their hands up and down their respective tummies and say: Aaj Bahut Kha Liya (we ate too much today).

Traffic in Finland was very organized and disciplined; cars are driven at a speed within the prescribed limits. Traffic remains usually sparse most of the time and on most of the roads. If some 20 or more cars are standing at a traffic signal it means it is a heavy traffic. Finns won’t believe that, in Pakistan, normal traffic means the number of cars is nearly 100 and bikes not less than a 1000 on any random traffic signal of Lahore, Karachi or any other big city. There isn’t any free parking anywhere in Finland. One has to pay for the parking, even at their resident apartment buildings. Guests also need to pay for the parking if their stay is more than the allowed limit at visiting places. Private land houses may have the luxury of free parking!

During our stay in Helsinki, it rained a number of times but each time it was a light drizzle for short spans which did not affect the daily routines or activities. It, however, rained hailstorm with high winds only once. Finns might have not experienced how strongly and heavily it rains in tropical countries as well as Pakistan in monsoon period i.e., July and August every year.

We also undertook a day trip to Tampere, a town, where our son did his master’s. He took us to the visit of Tampere University, and other tourist areas including to a restaurant where we enjoyed the best lunch; reindeer pizza, with a thick base layer and thick toppings. Some other nearby towns and islands were also visited and we enjoyed a number of ferry rides. A day trip to Tallinn, Estonia on a cruise was worth experiencing too.

Among all these short recreational trips, a trip to strawberry farms on one fine cloudy afternoon in the outskirts of Helsinki was exciting, beautiful and unforgettable too. The farms management required each adult visitor to take a basket of one kilogram or bigger one, enter the farms and pluck the ripe strawberries to fill the basket. 

While plucking and collecting, one can eat the strawberries as much as they can. On returning from farms, the baskets were weighed down and payment was made according to the weight of each basket, full of strawberries. Believe me, I haven’t eaten before elsewhere so sweet and juicy strawberries as these were at these farms.

Someone may ask us that why we have chosen Finland as the best destination in the entire Europe although we had been to the most-visited central Europe as well. First reason could be that it’s our son’s home, therefore, we felt like at home there, and the desire of revisiting it rekindles within us all the time. Other reasons are already explained above, like, sea, lakes, forests, less crowded, peace and tranquility. The security of life and property issue, which is a major concern of local population and foreigner visitors in Pakistan, is a non-issue here.

It is true that our one-month long visit to Finland consisted of touring Helsinki and few other nearby towns only which, in a way, does not even make 1-2 percent of the total area of Finland. It is also a fact that without visiting Finland in winter and watching and enjoying Aurora Borealis i.e., Northern Lights, any writeup on Finland does not fully justify it. Nevertheless, I will simply conclude that our love with Finland has begun in summer and we hope that it will not culminate in winter.  

Hey Finland! Waiting for you to greet us again with Tervetuloa, soon. 

Larkana to Lahore

 

Ever since I retired from the govt. job and settled down in Lahore on 31 August 2020 our acquaintances and office colleagues asked us curiously as to why we decided to settle down in Lahore instead of going back to our roots, the place where we belong to, where our family, rather extended family and relatives lived. Accordingly, some of them also advised us that we should go back to Sindh. Our response to these questions and observations has been apparently indigestible and unconvincing so far. Such questions, nevertheless, prompted me to trace back my entire life in order to search for the real reasons of attachment with Lahore, and also to find the pulling force, the reason of romance with this historical city. It could be that I just followed the usual concept about Lahore that once in Lahore the city keeps you chained here or it simply throws you out or the facilities offered by Lahore overshadowed rest of Pakistan. One thing is for sure, however, that I have been shackled here.

I opened my eyes in a village in district Larkana but father moved us to Ratodero, a tehsil town for schooling. I was five years old in 1965 when father grabbed my arm and enrolled me in a primary school (Sindhi medium) located in the vicinity of our rented house. It was a time just after the war with India. I faintly remember that we used to turn off lights in the night to observe blackout so that Indian planes could not drop bombs on our houses. During the morning school assembly all students would sing, in chorus, national songs about bravery of our armed forces. The one such song that we recited loudly and repeatedly everyday was: Khitta e Lahore Tere Jan-NisaroN Ko Salam….. (we salute Lahore for sacrificing its lives….). This song would send chills through my body and as such this was my first introduction to Lahore.

Further, my father was fond of listening to Urdu and Indian filmi songs on Radio Pakistan and Ceylon (Sri Lanka) Radio. For listening to news he would switch to BBC, in particular during and after war times. Besides, Newspaper boy would drop “Daily Jung Urdu, Karachi” at our doorstep. My attraction in the newspaper would be: Tarzan, the animated/cartoon (with pictures, of course) series whose episode appeared daily in the newspaper, weekly children page that would print short stories, poems and jokes, and most of all, advertisements of Urdu, Punjabi movies. Dad and our elder brother would often discuss movies that were doing well at the box office after their simultaneous release in the cinemas of Lahore and Karachi. They would wait for hit movies for release in any of the three cinemas of Larkana to go watching them. Once released, Dad would take us to Larkana in a hired Willys Jeep for watching it. I happened to hear often from Dad and elder brother that films were produced in Lahore where large film studios were located. Still under ten I longed for meeting film actors by visiting Lahore film studios.

Since my immediate elder brother had just completed class five (I did class four) in early 1970 our father moved his family to Larkana so that his children could pursue their education, now in English, from class six onwards. By then our oldest brother had joined West Pakistan Railways as Booking Clerk. He travelled frequently to Lahore for trainings and other job-related assignments. He would be all praise of Lahore city regarding greenery, historical buildings, mosques, gardens, colourful kites and of course, plenty of cinemas and film studios. After his every visit to Lahore I would ask him innocently about the new films he watched there and had he been able to visit any of the film studios or met any of the film stars! I would always beg him to take me along in his next visit to Lahore.

The opportunity to visit Lahore knocked on in the mid 1973 when oldest brother’s colleague and intimate friend in Pakistan Railways took me along with him to Lahore for a three-days trip. We stayed in a hotel at the tail end of Anarkali bazar and visited all major monuments of Lahore, besides, visiting shrine of Data Darbar and watching a movie in Ratan Cinema at famous Laxmi Chowk, Lahore. In 1975 our secondary school sent us on an industrial tour of Pakistan wherein we toured Lahore, Rawalpindi, Islamabad and Murree.  While in Lahore I persuaded a few like-minded classmates to undertake a visit to film studios. We took a taxi that dropped us on the main gate of Evernew Studios on Multan Road. We tried to enter but the security guard didn’t let us go. We waited restlessly at the gate to catch a glimpse of any film star while entering or exiting the studios. Suddenly and much to our delight we saw film star Nadeem driving his car and approaching the studios. As he slowed down at the gate we waved at him and he acknowledged smilingly. We had made our day.

Trips to Lahore continued from then onwards. In 1981 we visited it under all Pakistan industrial tour organized by our university. Later, after having completed my engineering studies in August 1983 I travelled to Lahore for appearing in a job interview at WAPDA Headquarters, WAPDA House in October 1983. Again in January 1983 I went there to join WAPDA. Working with WAPDA meant travelling to Lahore frequently for official tasks. Although I kept visiting Lahore and enjoying my trips I was still looking for an opportunity to serve WAPDA at Lahore so that I could move my family here but this was not forthcoming in near future. I have had to wait till 1998.

After having received the transfer orders to Lahore we, all family members, took the flight from Hyderabad and landed in Lahore. After staying two weeks in the guest house we shifted to a rented portion of 10-Marla house in Ravi Block, Allama Iqbal Town. Old friends and new office colleagues helped us in settling down especially enrolling 3 children in different classes and different schools. Within six months we were allotted an official residence at WAPDA Shadman Flats and we moved there immediately. Shadman is a centrally located area within Lahore with all old and new shopping areas, main offices, theatres, etc., are within reach and especially famous gardens like Racecourse Ground Park and Lawrence Garden are within walking distance. It was a long awaited dream coming true.

The spring of 1999 is unforgettable; flowers and kites everywhere around the city. Both big gardens near our residence blossomed with beautiful flowers. Sky remained colourful right from sun rise to twilight of the day with kites of various colours and sizes. Not to forget the Basant festival that was celebrated in the first week of February. Luckily we were invited to old city on Basant day where we spent full day at the rooftop flying kites and enjoying Lahori food amid slogans of “Bo Kata” echoing on the rooftops of varying heights of Lahore. In the evening we visited Racecourse Ground Park where Food Festival and Flowers Show were going on amid beautiful lights and water fountains. It was nonstop fun, flavour, joy and excitement.

We moved to Hyderabad in the mid of 2007 due to family reasons but it was hard adjusting there for long and hence decided to return back to Lahore. Accordingly, we were back in June 2011 and since then we have been living here.

Now I return to the questions mentioned in the first paragraph that why we chose to live in Lahore. The main reason being safety of our lives followed by peace of mind. Children’s education and their bright future is second in line and lastly, ease of daily life is other major reason. Ease of daily life simply means one can have water, gas, electricity available round the clock, cleanliness in your street and area, and ease of moving in different parts of the city at any hour. Lately gas and electricity are hard to find all the time, especially gas in winter and electricity in summer but still Lahore has comparatively less shortages. Lahore possessed all ingredients of being a big city offering safe and better life. It’s green, peaceful, better schooling, plenty of public and private universities with good standard of education, peaceful to hangout late in nights, less crimes i.e. almost free of ethnic hatred, kidnapping for ransom, street crime, car thefts, etc.

Before the end of my career with WAPDA, Allah (SWT) bestowed me with the resources to build my own house in the suburbs of Lahore. We moved there immediately and are living in absolute tranquility. The journey of my life began in Larkana but I wouldn’t know when and where it ends but at least I can make a wish that the burial may materialize at a peaceful place and in clean environment.

Life with WAPDA (1984-2020) – Part 4 of 4

 

WAPDA went through a major transformation and disintegration in early 2000s. The Power Wing dealing with thermal generation and all distribution entities was detached from WAPDA. Later on, transmission line system was also made independent of WAPDA. From a leading engineering organization of Pakistan with a strength of over 150,000 officers and workers it suddenly had a steep fall to a strength of less than 15,000 only. Before this debacle, Water Wing of WAPDA was already stripped of its major role of planning, design and construction of irrigation and drainage sector.

During early 2000 WAPDA literally lost its control on technical prowess of its engineers when under the Vision 2025 Program, WAPDA distributed/awarded consultancy services of various small and medium dams, storage and hydropower projects. With the award of these consultancies WAPDA engineers felt like becoming redundant and working sans authority and responsibilities. In a way it severely hampered growth and capacity building of WAPDA engineers in years to come. This further exacerbated to already weakened WAPDA engineers when slowly and without being noticed domination of non-engineers took place in WAPDA at the helm of decision making.

After the fragmentation of WAPDA in early 2000s the high echelon of civil and electrical engineers became powerless while Administrative and Finance Wings gripped firm control on decision making. The fallout could be witnessed through abolition of technical positions and creation of new administrative and finance/accounting positions in last 10-15 years.

WAPDA’s scope is now restricted to planning, building and operation of hydropower projects only. This step sans PSDP funding for Water Sector development projects makes WAPDA’s financial liquidity position as fragile. WAPDA’s financial strength gets further delicate in view of federal government’s inability to fully fund new development projects. WAPDA has to chip in with its equity in every new hydropower project. Besides, it also seeks commercial financing through local banks in order to achieving “financial-close” of the new projects. Not to forget that WAPDA’s source of income has become dependent on NEPRA’s tariff allowed on hydropower plants under feasibility/design, construction and operation.

Further, creation of “Assignment Accounts” by Planning Commission for new projects has deprived WAPDA from collection of 2.5% Overheads. This step makes it hard for WAPDA to operate and finance non-hydropower Water Wing offices. WAPDA once took up the matter with the federal govt. for enhancing the overheads up to about 10% but perhaps did not purse vigorously. The research organizations like SMO, IWASRI, MONA, ISRIP etc., have lost their touch due to scarcity of funds and are merely pulling on and may be shut down not in very distant future like P&I Org. and Hydrogeology which have vanished from the scene. Technical Services Org. is merely providing services for review and evaluation of PC-Is and PC-IIs prepared by other formations. WAPDA is having severe dearth of Economists for preparation and evaluation of “Economic and Financial Analysis” needed for PC-Is of future projects. Similarly, CDO has become spineless and does petty design works, and in most cases, it reproduces old designs. WAPDA Environmental Cell (WEC) is also reeling from bare minimum “relevant” staff.

It’s also disheartening that Water Wing of WAPDA is without its head on regular basis i.e. Member Water since early 2017. This highly important and coveted position is being assigned to one of the regular General Managers of Water Wing on additional charge basis on “pick n choose” principle for short spans. Even a GM (Hydel), a Mechanical Engineer, who was already holding addition charge of Member (Power), had been Member Water for about a year in 2018-19. This musical chair game is going on for long now.

Career Development:

Every engineer in WAPDA serves nearly 35 years of his life if their induction takes place immediately after graduation which normally happens under 25 years of age. After having completed compulsory induction trainings, they are placed randomly in various formations, without considering their technical capabilities and aptitude. During the following years of their career, postings remain indiscriminate unless they use influence, external and internal, for transfer on their favourite positions and places.

Generally, there are three categories of WAPDA engineers:

a) Some engineers perform really well in their respective areas and work tirelessly and diligently. Their reputation travels to high level and since they have been “labelled” to work in a particular office therefore, they keep working in such offices for long, get promoted and posted in the same place. Such formations are Central Contract Cell, Hydro Planning, Planning and Investigation (defunct now), CDO, DSO, Environment, etc. Since these people remain working in one office for years (even decades) therefore they lack the capacity and vision to take on field jobs.

Similarly, some other engineers get posted in the field and they excel serving there. Once becoming habitual of working in a relatively independent environment, they don’t like to work “desk jobs” and consider themselves chained, powerless and becoming like clerks if posted in indoor offices.

b)   Engineers falling under “jack of all” category, though technically strong and efficient, are kept rotated/ posted in almost every field, every place, hard area or desk job. They are exceptionally well in adjusting to every kind of situation and possess strong adaptability to work under stress and in emergent circumstances. They are destined to become project directors, general managers and beyond, if luck favoured.

c)   This is special category of those who like to work in Lahore only, come what may. Majority of engineers/ technical experts who hail from Lahore or adjoining areas never want to leave Lahore (even if learning process is stalled). They are compromised in nature and avoid challenging jobs.

As far as career development and management of engineers is concerned it can be firmly termed as “nonexistent” in WAPDA. There could be many “off the shelf” models available for career development or a “tailor made” model could be had through hiring experts. One of such models could be that: after induction trainings the engineers should be placed in various organizations for a term of two years (could be one year too, depending on the situation). They may be kept rotated in at least five different formations during first 10 out of 35 years of their service. The engineers must be knowing about their postings well in advance for the next 5-10 years. After having completed this phase the GMs/ DGs in “career management cell” should evaluate their performance and aptitude for designing future of the engineers for rest of their service with WAPDA. The promotional exams and trainings in vogue are useless and obsolete in nature. Similarly, ACRs system is outdated too. Part of ACR should be written by the engineers/ officers themselves. Innovative and modern practices are need of the hour. WAPDA engineer have inherent deficiency of taking the not-technical matters lightly and casually. In order for them to reach top positions they must demonstrate and improve their proficiency in English, and enhance understanding of administrative and financial matters.

At this particular point in time when I am writing this piece it is promising to say that three large projects i.e. Dasu Hydropower Project, Mohmand Dam Project and the giant Diamer Basha Dam Project have already gone into implementation/construction phase. The next ten years would be an era of great learning experience for WAPDA engineers provided they are assigned role, authority and responsibility to, at least, supervising construction activities. If they kept on doing coordination activities (among WAPDA, Consultants and Contractors), merely reporting periodic progress of work, and preparing briefs and presentations, the learning experience would never be gained.

I wish WAPDA to prosper, serve the nation with dignity and regain its well-deserved glory that it lost some decades ago.

Life with WAPDA (1984-2020) – Part 3 of 4

 

In Feb. 2012 I reported back to WAPDA. Mr. Muhammad Ali Shah, the then GM (C&M) Water who knew me very well offered three options for new posting to choose any one from; Central Contract Cell (CCC), Planning & Investigation Org. and GM (Central) office. I opted for the former and he advised me to visit him after a week to collect posting orders. When I went to collect the same after a week he cut a sorry face and said: Somehow we can’t place you in CCC, therefore, you must give us alternate option. I opted for P&I Org. Nevertheless, my inquisition in the matter revealed to me that postings in CCC were subject to clearance from someone influential with Authority. Since I didn’t take the “prescribed and well defined route” therefore my posting was stalled in CCC. Without lamenting it, I resumed my services in P&I Org. in the following week. Few months later I was promoted as Director (Civil) and retained with P&I Org. on the recommendations of Mr. Ashraf Abid, the then Chief Engineer (P&I). Mr. Abid had been my senior colleague when we started our service with WAPDA at Kalabagh Dam Project in 1984.

On joining P&I Org., I knew that one of our batch mates Mr. Bilal Karimi was working there but had never met him before. I visited his office and introduced myself. He was immediately on his feet and smilingly said: So, you are Mr. Pitafi, I heard a lot about you. I enquired: What did you know about me? He smiled again and said: I always ask my Sindhi friends that they don’t take their respective work seriously? In response they would say: Have you met Mr. Pitafi? Had you met him you would not have passed such a comment.

Working in P&I Org. was altogether a new experience. Planning and design of new water storage dams and hydropower projects was an interesting field. I was assigned to supervise consultancy services of design of Mohmand Dam Hydropower Project in addition to some other assignments. In July 2016 I was promoted as Chief Engineer and kept working there till Jan. 2018. In view of my (and my team along with consultants) excessive efforts in the preparation of bidding documents and initiation of the process of award of consultancy contract and award of work for construction of Mohmand Dam Project it was widely believed in WAPDA that I would be posted as GM/PD of this project. Besides, I was also tipped by most senior officers for becoming GM of Mohmand Dam Project. However, the competent authority had an entirely different idea and arrangement in his/their mind. Eventually I was promoted as General Manager and posted as GM Projects/Project Director, Northern Areas in Jan. 2018.

Only after assuming the charge of the position of GM (Projects) Northern Areas did I come to realization that how problematic this position was! All six contracts of 3-High Head Projects (two each of Allai, Duber and Khan Khwar respectively) needed to be closed down. Similarly, 3-High Head Consultancy Services contract was still intact whereas all hydropower plants were in operation since 2014. In addition, all contracts of Satpara Dam Project were also in dire need of closing. The civil contract of Keyal Khwar HPP was terminated in Dec. 2017 due to poor performance of the contractor and it required to be retendered again. Perhaps this was not enough when I further learnt that more than 200 Audit Paras (PDPs and DPs) needed to be defended at DAC and PAC level for settlement.

Next two and half years were not a smooth sailing at all, however, with the cooperation and efforts of my junior colleagues in the office we were able to conclude all six contracts of 3-High Head HPPs and 3-High Head Consultancy services contract with the approval of WAPDA Authority. Non-approval of 3^rd Revised PC-I of Satpara Dam Project incl. Shatung Nullah Diversion thereby non-availability of PSDP funds is the major hurdle in conclusion of Satpara contracts.

 The most frustrating part of GMship is attending Departmental Accounts Committee (DAC) and to some extent Public Accounts Committee (PAC) meetings. In DAC meetings, the concerned GM/PD is treated as an “Accused” before some 20 judges to explain the justification of “Wrong Doing” by the incumbent or his predecessors, mostly it’s about predecessors’. In spite of providing all relevant details, explanations, proofs, DAC never agrees on settling the Proposed Draft Para (PDP) and digs out new queries and questions for furnishing revised reply and justification. In rare cases when DAC can’t find any more reasons to keep it pending PDPs are either put under ‘Verification mode” or changed into DPs and referred to PAC for decision when DAC has the power to settle PDPs at its own level.

Till 2018 the Draft Paras used to be defended in PAC by the respective Principal Accounting Officer (PAO) duly supported by WAPDA Authority. Now, concerned GMs are thrown into the arena for defending the DPs before the coveted forum. (Next...Part 4/4)