Despite enough supply of sugar on controlled rate, the city district government has failed to devise a transparent and well-connected mechanism to provide sugar to general public.

Its not the issue of scarcity of sugar, it is the issue of lack of planning, poor management and incompetence of authorities concerned that the general public is wandering from shop to shop to get a bag of sugar, says an officer in Food department Punjab.

For the first time in the history of Pakistan the sugar is being sold at two different prices. For domestic consumer it costs Rs. 40 whereas for commercial use it is available at Rs 60-70.

Punjab Sugar Dealers Association, Pakistan Sugar Mills Association and City District Government unanimously confirmed that there is no shortage of sugar at all in the country. Then why is sugar not available in the market? TNS put this question to all the stake holders millers, dealers and the city district government.

District Coordination Officers (DCOs) through Town Municipal Administrations (TMAs) are responsible for providing low rate Rs. 40 per kg sugar to all 3500 retail shops of Lahore. But the whole situation is speaking loudly that they are not capable enough to cope with the challenge of sugar supply.

Starting from sugar price hike during Ramzan, the sugar crisis is passing through its most crucial phase. The general public is purchasing sugar at higher price than fixed by the government.

In July this year, Chairman of Punjab Zone Pakistan Sugar Mills Association Javed Kayani had said that the mills had enough sugar stocks of over 1.740 million metric tones, sufficient to meet domestic requirement well until the start of the next crushing season in November. He said keeping in view the sugar stocks and consumption pattern of the country, "We could say that there is hardly any possibility of shortage of the commodity in the current calendar year."

Before Ramzan, in August, the sugar price had risen to all time high to Rs 60 to Rs 65 in various parts of the country. As a pre-emptive measure, the federal government raised the price of sugar abruptly from Rs 38 to Rs 50 on the plea that the sugar price in the international market was high. It was also announced that if imported from Dubai the sugar would cost the public Rs 65 per kg.

The increase of Rs12 per kg in the price of sugar is considered as the most unpopular decision of the federal government. The first reaction to the federal government's decision to increase sugar price came from the Punjab government saying Islamabad did not consult the provincial government over increase in the sugar price.

In the meantime, Chief Justice Lahore High Court Justice Khawaja Muhammad Sharif had taken suo moto notice of sugar crisis in Punjab and finally, on September 3, had fixed retail price of sugar at Rs 40 per kg, directing the Punjab Govt to ensure sugar availability at this rate in open market at any cost. The LHC also ordered the Punjab government to recover 250,000 tonnes of sugar from all godowns wherever it was stocked in its jurisdiction after making payment at the rate of Rs 36 per kilogram to sugar mills and stockists.

The Pakistan Sugar Mills Association (PSMA) and Punjab Sugar Dealers Association had moved the Supreme Court against the LHC orders of selling sugar at Rs 40 per kg but the Supreme Court, on September 16, upheld the decision of Lahore High Court, fixing the sugar price at Rs 40 per kg.

Competition Commission of Pakistan (CCP) had submitted a report on the subject which said 'about 70 percent of sugar produced in Pakistan is consumed for commercial and industrial purposes, whereas, only 30 percent of total production is purchased for domestic consumption. The apex court drew a line between the industrial consumers (70 percent) and general public (30 percent) observed the Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry.

The Supreme Court, on October 21, directed the PSMA to release 30% of their stocks on subsidised rates that is Rs. 40 per kg whereas the price of the remaining 70% stocks was left to the market forces to decide.

As per directions of the apex court, the Punjab government was responsible to ensure that domestic consumers are able to procure sugar with dignity at Rs 38-40 per kg in every nook and corner of the country.

"We are providing our 30% stocks on daily basis to District Coordinating Officers (DCOs) on subsidised rates that is Rs. 36 per kg as per direction of the Supreme Court, said Iskandar Khan, Chairman Central Zone Pakistan Sugar Mills Association (PSMA). Despite enough supply of subsidised sugar to DCOs, why is there scarcity of sugar in the country," he asked. "Actually, the government officers are earning millions of rupees in this crisis by selling the subsidised sugar allocated for general public to commercial user on 50% more rates," he alleged. "It is a failure on the part of the government."

After negotiating with the Punjab government supply of sugar to markets has been increased from 1,800 metric tonnes to 4,000 metric tones by the sugar mills but still this stock could not be distributed to all part of the province, not even in Lahore.

Ibrahim Mughal, Chairman Pakistan Agri Forum says, "There is no sugar crisis as such. It is the lack of will on the part of the government that sugar is not available to common man. Sugar crisis persisted despite the fact that some two million tonnes of excess sugar was produced and a huge quantity imported. The country's requirement is four million tonnes a year as against the supply of six million tonnes produced by more than 70 sugar mills."

President Punjab Sugar Dealers Association Muhammad Ayyub Rana says, "The commercial rate of sugar ranges from Rs 55-60 and is available in every part of the province. We are honoring the Supreme Court's decision, therefore, we are not concerned with consumer's share of the sugar stock," he explains. "We only deal in commercial share of sugar. Consumer's share in the sugar stock is the district government's responsibility. We purchase sugar from mills on commercial rates which varies from 53-55 and sold on 55-60," he says.

Lahore District Coordination Officer's (DCO) Staff Officer Tariq Zaman, the person dealing with sugar supply issue, says the CDGL has been providing sugar on controlled rates to the 3500 shops of Lahore. We have doubled the supply of sugar to the concerned towns and the situation will be better soon, he assured.

It is worth noticing that as long as three weeks have lapsed since the Supreme Court decision and the Punjab government has been unable to devise a mechanism to distribute sugar on controlled rate to domestic consumers.

The Punjab Government is using different supply chains to manage the situation. First through its chain of 3207 Utility Stores, second by using its nine Town Municipal Administrations as depots in collaborations with Food department which are striving to provide sugar at 3500 retail shops. In addition, as a final resort, the PSMA will sell one and two kg sugar bags in Sunday markets on controlled rate. The government officials have been claiming the situation would improve in a couple of days, for the last few weeks.

Town Talk

*An exhibition of works by Samina Ali and Sabina Gillani will open at Rohtas Gallery on 19th November.

*Music: Pashto Folk Music Concert on Sat, Nov 21 at 7:30pm at Lahore Chitrkar. Gulsam Khan and his group would present Pashto folk music. Gulsam plays Rubab and sings Pashto folk songs. He is accompanied with a group of 3-4 musicians who sing along and play percussion instruments like gharra, dholak, tabla and harmonium.

*Puppet Show at Peerus Cafe today with art session, child art, museum visit, games etc. Time: 12-5pm. New artists perform every week. There is music with lots of food.

*Sher Ki Baat: Understanding Poetry of Faiz every Wednesday from 5-6pm at Faiz Ghar. Teacher: Dr. Arifa Syeda.

*Countryside Cycling to start from Peeru's Café, 7 km from Thokar Niaz Beg on Raiwand Road today at 10:15am. It will end at 12:15pm.

In the British era, The Mall, later the Shahrah-e-Quaide-Azam, was an area of broad streets and ornamented brick and sandstone buildings. The British not only restored some monuments of their predecessors but also constructed some imposing edifices of their own. The British built as if they meant to stay. Though their neo-Mughal and other derivative buildings do not please every eye, their tree-shaded plots bring welcome relief to a traffic-filled boulevard.

The GPO and YMCA buildings in Lahore commemorated the golden jubilee of Queen Victoria, an event marked by the construction of clock towers and monuments all over British India. Other important British buildings included the High Court, the Government College University, Lahore Museum, National College of Arts, Montgomery Hall, Tollinton Market, the University of the Punjab (Old Campus) and the Provincial Assembly.

Even today, The Mall retains a variety of Gothic and Victorian style buildings built during the British Raj. At one end of The Mall stands one of the most prestigious universities of Pakistan. The old campus of Punjab University with arches, turrets and domes ornamented at every turn was among the most distinguished centers of learning in British India.

Between the old university campus and the museum across The Mall was a small traffic island on which sits Zamzama, the 18th-century cannon known to readers of Kipling as "Kim's gun." This part of town has many associations with Kipling who worked as a journalist in Lahore and made his name as a writer here between l882 and l889. Kipling's father taught at (and made famous) the Mayo College of Art, and became a leading curator/director of the museum. The story of Kim, recognised in both East and West as a classic tale of old India, begins in Lahore, where Kipling, still in his teens, had plumbed deeply into the life of backstreet and bazaar.

Unfortunately, that 'Mall' is now only history and commercialisation has totally destroyed The Mall. Now we are only greeted by pollution, noise, huge billboards and loud traffic honking at The Mall.

The Mall which was a glittering road of the city in the British Raj was declared a 'heritage' site to be protected by the authorities under the Antiquity Act of 1975. Decades ago during the British rule and even in early years after partition. Buildings on both sides of the road were considered precious in the city. There was peace and people loved to walk on there in their leisure time.

Not only that, some of the city's priceless heritage buildings owned by 'several influential individuals' instead of being included in the 'Heritage' and being protected and preserved by the authorities under the Antiquity Act 1975, are being destroyed due to commercialisation, sheer neglect and greed. These buildings are illustrations of combined Mughal, Gothic and Victorian architecture.

In the last one and a half decade several renovations of these buildings has completely destroyed this exemplary piece of art. There are only a couple of buildings left whose faces still remain in their original form.

Dr Ajaz Anwar, a well-known artist and a former Professor at National College of Arts when asked about his opinion and knowledge of these historical buildings on The Mall, said, "Yes, there are a few precious buildings that are in the possession of some influential individuals and are getting destroyed due to neglect." Dr Anwar said these buildings were prime examples of British architecture during the colonial era. Some of these buildings have combined British, Gothic and Victorian architectural style.

Some of the owners of these buildings are very influential personalities and they know the land these buildings stand on, is worth 'millions of dollars' and want to build high-rise commercial plazas, due to which such a precious heritage is getting destroyed, he added.

Interestingly about a couple of years earlier Parks and Horticulture Authority (PHA) had started the renovation of 59 buildings on The Mall including the buildings owned by these influential individuals, as part of its bid to preserve, refurbish and restore the glory of the city's heritage.

Ferozsons Building, Sports Building, E-Plomer Building, Dinga Singh Building, the former Iran Cultural Centre building, H Karim Bukhsh Building, Dayal Singh Mansion, the KFC building, Ghulam Rasool Building, Insurance Building, YMCA Building, Punjab Cooperative Bank building, Commercial Building, Chinese Building, Vulcan Building and the Mavra Book House building etc were included in this project. The authority had also decided to remove excess billboards from the road.

The decision was taken after severe damages in 2006's protests against the blasphemous caricatures of Prophet Mohammad (peace be upon him) published in some European newspapers. Before this the PHA took such an initiative about a decade ago when it repainted 59 buildings. However, those buildings were only painted, not repaired.

The new restoration project was undertaken in collaboration with a private paints company which had contributed Rs 2.5 million and the PHA had contributed Rs 1 million for the project. Special all-weather paints had been imported for this project which won't fade for 10 years. Surprisingly, this time too the project was not undertaken.

Javed Shaida, public relations deputy director of the PHA said that the buildings that were selected for the project at The Mall were not ordinary structures. "This is Lahore's heritage, which has to be restored and conserved for the next generation and PHA has always taken initiative in this regard. The above mentioned project was only announced and was later transferred to the Walled City project."

Shaukat, one of the owners of such buildings at The Mall said, "We know the priceless value of the architecture of such buildings and are aware of the fact that the construction of shops and plazas are damaging the very prime examples of this great architecture. On the other hand these buildings are a source of income for so many families." While commenting on the preservation and restoration of the original architecture, he said, "In most of the privately owned buildings the interiors have been renovated several times. The exterior of some of these buildings still remain in its original condition but they are in such bad shape that they won't be able to exist in the same way for long."

Akhtar, an artist by profession and one of the many admirers of British architecture in Lahore, said that when his children were young he used to take them to The Mall every weekend for recreation. "The ambience of the old British buildings and the tree-lined roads of The Mall always had a very soothing effect on anybody who would seek refuge from the daily misgivings of routine life." He very disappointingly said that such a Mall does not exist anymore. "As a student I used to come here to draw and paint these buildings as they inspired me very much right from my childhood. But now there is nothing to draw. The originality of the buildings has vanished over a period of time and commercialisation of the entire old buildings has ruined Lahore's beautiful heritage."

"One can only hope that may be a day will come when some government authority would have enough courage and honesty to take up this project, restore and preserve Lahore's true heritage in its real form, not taking into account any kind of pressure from the influential society", he added.