Only a mobile application if introduced timely could have averted this ice-trap that claimed nearly two dozen lives of innocent people in Murree while shocking the entire nation.
If all the concerned agencies made a joint strategy in collaboration with the Punjab Information Technology Board (PITB) and an app was prepared, the administration and police could manage the influx; thus, stopping causalities as well.
There should be data of hotel accommodation capacity, parking places with the PITB and different law enforcing agencies, thus ensuring a required number of people and vehicles entered only.
The PITB had badly failed to introduce e-governance in the province and thus red-tapism continued. Neither administration nor the board want to shun this colonial, age-old system that favors only the mighty and works when a crisis is set in. Had there been no tragedy, there would have been no movement at all.
Wise administration both civil as well as police in addition to Rescue 1122, Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA), Civil Defence, Tourism and Excise departments and MET badly failed to deliver as there was poor coordination among them. The maiden Rescue 1122 Director General (DG) Dr Rizwan Naseer, as is often reported, remained above checks and preferred to change his mother department whenever he felt fit.
“There is a wide breach between the civil administration and the police after the abolition of magistracy,” said an ex-commissioner Iqbal. Police Order 2002 was introduced to breach this gap, but nothing could improve.
The officer said that the tragedy would be dealt with as another catastrophe to further ‘enrich’ those who are responsible for this debacle as futile solutions like declaring Murree as a district would be presented just to cool the sentiments of the enraged public. This is not the solution, a solution is finding flaws and then resolving them. Committees and their reports are just common practice.
There are so many questions that may be asked from those who are liable. No one seems to take responsibility here.
When this scribe talked to a former tourism secretary, he said that all concerned failed to manage the situation as no one was prepared for it.
“There is an administrative gap among different departments and no agency including the (PDMA) anticipated to counter this fiasco,” the officer blamed. He said that the Murree incident was not the only one when government machinery failed as it would fall short whenever such an influx would happen in the future as well.
“It was mainly the duty of the deputy commissioner [DC] to act pre-emptively and make arrangements when the MET had warned of the snowstorm,” the officer accused, adding that the DC badly failed to deliver. Only one officer, surely DC, should be responsible and thus be accountable for all happenings. He should be empowered with either giving him magisterial powers or establishing administrative police solely under his command, he suggested.
DC Rawalpindi was not available to respond to queries. However, his operator Muzaffar said that sahib (sir) was busy in an important meeting and would be available after one hour or so.
Murree could only accommodate 4,000 cars at a time, then why over 100,000 vehicles were allowed to enter? Construction of parking plazas and establishment of district offices with a heavy budget was not a solution when officers were not committed to perform? Why were they not allowed to complete their terms as administrative bosses, the officer questioned?
The Punjab government during the last three years has changed five deputy commissioners of Rawalpindi. None of the district heads could complete tenure. This frequent change of top office holders only impacted the progress inversely.
“Whenever an officer is posted as DC, he didn’t know how many months he is to stay in office,” said a former DC conditioning anonymity. He confessed that the DCs were posted on political backings mainly.
Previously, Muhammad Ali Randhawa, Saifullah Dogar, Umar Jehangir and Anwar-ul-Haq were transferred with short intervals. Later in 2021, Amir Aqiq Khan took over as DC then he was transferred, and Muhammad Ali replaced him after five months. Ali was earlier DC Faisalabad.
It is to be noted that Haq was removed after he was allegedly found involved in the road corruption scandal. Former commissioner Rawalpindi Division Muhammad Mehmood had also been arrested on such corruption charges in the Ring Road scam by the anti-graft giant National Accountability Bureau (NAB).
Advocate Nasir alleged that the one responsible for these frequent transfers was also guilty of the Murree tragedy. Why an officer who was removed from one district was posted as DC in some other, he asked. He said that the reasons for posting and removing officers on such sensitive and administrative offices must be recorded and made public as well, otherwise this musical game would continue.
There should be an inquiry on frequent transfers and postings of officers without noting any reasons and how much it costs to the exchequer, Nasir demanded
