Regional power grid
THE recent agreement with Turkmenistan and Russia to become partners in the plan to import electricity via a long transmission line from Central Asia to Pakistan is vindication of the vision that lies behind the project. Known as the CASA 1000 project, it originally involved the import of hydroelectric power via a transmission line from Tajikistan to Pakistan in the summer months. But then, Russia and Turkmenistan expressed an interest in becoming partners as well, and since these countries have substantial surpluses of thermal power, it became feasible to keep the line energised during the winter months too. Now officials in the power sector from around Central Asia are preparing for a meeting of a group known as the Central Asia Regional Economic Cooperation that Pakistan is hosting in October and during which the participation of other countries in CASA can be discussed.
The vision is a grand one. A large regional power grid can connect multiple countries across Central and South Asia, with a market-based mechanism to feed power into the grid and draw from it depending on need. Massive grids of this sort were envisioned many decades ago but only now are they starting to come to our part of the world. CASA has broken the ground, and with growing interest from countries such as Russia and Turkmenistan, it is clear that the transmission line has opened a door to the vast energy surpluses of Central Asia. In time, it can grow to include numerous countries, and perhaps eventually even Iran and India with Pakistan and Afghanistan reaping substantial benefits as participants as well as from transit fees.
But there is one big problem that stands in the way of realising this vision: geopolitics. Security remains the biggest question mark hanging over the project since a substantial part of the transmission line will have to travel through Afghanistan. India and Pakistan are in the midst of an escalating spat as the crackdown in Kashmir grows more brutal by the day. And dealings with Iran continue to face substantial obstacles in spite of the withdrawal of sanctions. Pakistan can play a role in controlling some of the geopolitical issues that hang over the vision of a regional power grid, but ultimately the fate of that vision will be decided by the amorphous forces of history larger than any single government. The project should move ahead step by step therefore. Making CASA operational is a reasonable proposition. The government should do everything in its power to make headway in the CASA project during the forthcoming CAREC gathering. The security questions hanging over the project should not be underestimated, but neither should the potential benefits. Rarely have cooperation and confrontation yielded so stark a trade-off. Given the possibilities that a regional power grid opens up, its pursuit should not be allowed to fall out of focus.
Congo fever
WITH Eidul Azha three weeks away, the influx of sacrificial animals, especially towards the urban centres, has begun. In Karachi alone, thousands of beasts have already arrived, while many more are on their way as the festival draws closer. It is imperative that authorities remain on their toes as with the presence of such large numbers of livestock close to the population centres, the risk of diseases such as Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever is reasonably high. So far three people have died in Karachi over the last three weeks due to CCHF; the latest victim was a trader from Bahawalpur. In fact, CCHF has been a matter of concern for some time, especially in the past two years. Ten victims have succumbed to it. As per the global health body WHO, cattle, sheep and goats can serve as hosts for the virus. The latter is transmitted when individuals come into contact with the blood and tissues of infected animals; human-to-human transmission is also possible. The fatality rate can be as high as 40pc.
With so many cases over the past few weeks, the provincial and municipal authorities must remain alert. All sacrificial animals entering markets should be screened. As WHO recommends, chemicals should be sprayed to kill the ticks that carry the virus, while beasts found to be infected must be quarantined. Also, those who deal with livestock should wear protective clothing and use repellent on their skin and clothes. In fact, the authorities should carry out a public information campaign via the media until Eid to communicate preventive measures to livestock traders and those who work at cattle markets. There have also been calls for the enhancement of biosafety measures at hospitals while some experts say that to control the spread of CCHF, the focus of preventive efforts should be on the villages where livestock originates. There should also be inter-provincial coordination, as livestock traders often cross provincial borders on the way to market. And as a number of cases have originated in the Bahawalpur area, Punjab government officials need to pay special attention to this region. The administration in Sindh has announced several steps to combat CCHF; we hope the momentum is kept up until Eid so that further deaths are prevented. Moreover, livestock markets should be limited to designated areas; municipal authorities must remove illegal cattle pens that spring up inside cities and towns in the run-up to Eidul Azha.
Prank calls to Nacta
IF at times it appears that the state is not demonstrating enough seriousness in the fight against terrorism and militancy, there is also ample evidence that, notwithstanding this country’s battle-scarred landscape, the citizenry itself has the same mindset. Consider the 1717 helpline set up by the National Counter Terrorism Authority shortly after the December 2014 attack on the Army Public School in Peshawar. The government had appealed to citizens to remain vigilant and report any suspicious person or activity for which purpose this helpline was established. But a month later, Interior Minister Nisar Ali Khan complained that around 500 to 600 complaints made on the number had turned out to be hoax calls, and that only 15 to 20 genuine ones had been received. Since then, matters have only worsened. In Islamabad on Thursday, at a Nacta meeting, data provided showed that out of 8,305 calls received by the helpline in just the first 20 days of July, only 41 had turned out to be legitimate and actionable. This is no less than shocking.
Such a vast number of hoax calls is a serious abuse of the terrorism authority’s time and resources. The only action taken against the pranksters has been the identification of 75 of the most frequent callers, who had made more than 50 calls each, and whose SIMs were shut down after taking the matter up with the telecommunication authorities. This hardly goes far enough. So many people crying wolf would not only be demoralising in the extreme for the personnel whose job it is to counter the gravest of offences, it also increases the chances of genuine calls going unanswered. While citizens must rein in their worst impulses and be penalised where necessary, law-enforcement authorities must maintain the resolve to treat each call as communicating a potentially real and active threat, regardless of what the statistics say about the nature of the majority of calls. The guard must not be let down.
Source: Editorials
Published in Dawn, August 21st, 2016