History
Much of Pakistan's road network (National Highways) and railway network were built before 1947, during the British Raj. In recent years, new national highways have been built, with the addition of motorways. Airports and seaports have been built recently within the last 30 years.
Rail
Main article: Pakistan Railways
Lahore Railway Station
Outer Platform, Lahore Railway Station
Domestic
Rail services in Pakistan are provided by the state-run Pakistan Railways, under the supervision of the Ministry of Railways. Pakistan Railways provides an important mode of transportation in Pakistan, catering to the large-scale movement of people and freight. The railway network comprises 8,163 km[1] of which broad gauge (1.676-m) forms 7,718 km including 293 km of electrified track. Narrow gauge (1-metre) tracks form the remaining 445 km. Passenger earnings comprise of 50% of the total revenue. During 1999-2000 this amounted to Rs. 4.8 billion.[citation needed] Pakistan Railways carry 65 million passengers annually and daily operates 228 mail, express and passenger trains.[citation needed] Pakistan Railways also operate special trains for various occasions. The Freight Business Unit with 12000 personnel operates over 200 freight stations on the railway network. The FBU serves the Port of Karachi and Port Qasim as well as in various other stations along the network and generates revenue from the movement of agricultural, industrial and imported products such as wheat, coal, fertilizer, cement, and sugar. About 39% of the revenue is generated from the transportation of petroleum, 19% from imported wheat, fertilizer and rock phosphate. The remaining 42% is earned from domestic traffic.[citation needed] The freight rates structure is based on market trends in road transport which is the main competitor to rail transport.
Metros
The Karachi Circular Railway, which opened in the early 1940s, is the only functioning metro in Pakistan as of date. In 1976, Karachi was slated to begin work on an underground metro system, but plans have been put on hold since. The Lahore Metro is another proposal still in planning and is scheduled to be completed by 2020.
International
Flag of Iran Iran - A broad gauge railway line runs from Zahedan to Quetta, and a standard gauge line is being built from Zahedan to Kerman in central Iran, linking with the rest of the Iranian rail network. On May 18, 2007, a MOU for rail cooperation was signed by Pakistan and Iran under which the line will be completed by December 2008. When the rail systems link up at Zahedan, there will be a break of gauge between the Islamic Republic of Iran Railways standard gauge tracks and Pakistan Railways broad gauge.
Flag of Afghanistan Afghanistan - Currently there is no rail link to Afghanistan since no railway network is present in that country, however Pakistan Rail has proposed to help build a Afghani Rail Network in three phases. The first phase will stretch from the Chaman to Spin Boldak in Afghanistan. The second phase will extend line to Kandahar and the third phase will eventually connect to Herat. From there, the line will be extended to Khushka, Turkmenistan. The final phase would link 1676mm gauge with Central Asian 1524mm gauge. It is not clear where the break of gauge station will be.[3] The proposed line will also be connected the port town of Gwadar via Dalbadin and Taftan, thus connecting the port town to Central Asia.
Flag of the People's Republic of China China - There is no link with China however, on February 28, 2007 contracts were awarded for feasibility studies on a proposed line from Havelian via the Khunjerab pass at 4730m above sea level, to the Chinese railhead at Kashgar, a distance of about 750 km.
Flag of Turkmenistan Turkmenistan - via Afghanistan
Road
Makran Coastal Highway, Gwadar
M2 to Islamabad
National Highways
Main article: National Highways of Pakistan
During the 1990s, Pakistan began an ongoing project to rebuild all national highways throughout the country specifically to important financial, cargo and textile centers. The National Highway Authority or NHA is responsible for the maintenance of all national highways in Pakistan.
Motorways
Main article: Motorways of Pakistan
The construction of motorways began in the early 1990s with the idea building a world class road network and to reduce the load off the heavily used national highways throughout the country. The M2 was the first motorway completed in 1998, linking the cities of Islamabad and Lahore. In the past 5 years, many new motorways have opened up including the M1, M3.
Waterways
The waterway network in Pakistan is in its infancy with Karachi being the only major city situated next to the Arabian Sea. Still plans are being proposed for the development of the waterways in the country along the Indus River and through the Punjab as it would boost employment opportunities and the economic and social development of Pakistan.
* Port of Gawadar - Gawadar, Balochistan
* Port of Karachi - Karachi City Center
* Port Qasim - East Karachi
* Port of Pasni - Pasni, Balochistan
Air
Pakistan has 139 airports. The main airport include:
* Jinnah International Airport (Karachi)
* Allama Iqbal International Airport (Lahore)
* Benazir Bhutto International Airport (Islamabad)
* Peshawar International Airport
* Quetta International Airport
* Sialkot International Airport
There are also several smaller airports which have flights to and from the Gulf because of the large Pakistani diaspora working in the region. There are 91 airports with paved runways of which 14 have runways longer than 3,047 meters. The remaining 48 airports have unpaved runways including one airport with a runway longer than 3,047 meters. Pakistan also has eighteen heliports.
Local Transport
Motorbikes and scooters: cheap and simple transport
A Pakistani rickshaw
In urban areas there are several means of transport available, catering to a wide range of budgets
Buses
Daewoo Express
Customised buses and trucks in Pakistan
Daewoo City Bus
* Inter City
Bus service in urban areas and between cities is well established with services run by both public and private sectors. Bus services like Daewoo Express, Skyway and Niazi Bus have set up modern intercity service in Pakistan which connects to most cities in Pakistan and runs 24 hours a day. Intercity buses tend to be more modern and well kept as compared to urban transport within cities which are also well established, however the fleet of buses used tend to be in horrible shape and are not air-conditioned.
International
International bus services are also well established in Pakistan and connect to various countries:
- Quetta - Zahidan, Iran - Quetta - Mashad, Iran - Gwadar - Zahidan, Iran (2010) - Karachi - Quetta - Zahidan - Tehran, Iran (proposed) - Peshawar - Jalalabad, Afghanistan - Peshawar - Kabul, Afghanistan - Islamabad - Dushanbe, Uzbekistan - Islamabad - Kashghar, China - Lahore - Delhi, India
Auto Rickshaws
Auto rickshaws are a popular method of traveling in cities and are found in almost every city and town in Pakistan. The fare is usually negotiable before commencing a journey, however due to the level of pollution contributed by the auto-rickshaws, the government has recently begun banning older auto richshaws and replacing them with CNG auto rickshaws, which tend to be less noisy, forms less pollutants and are much bigger and more comfortable than the older sets of richshaws. The Punjab Government decided in 2005 to replace two-stroke three-wheelers with CNG-fitted four-stroke rickshaws in Lahore, Multan, Faisalabad, Rawalpindi and Gujranwala. Three manufacturers were ordered to produce 60,000 four-stroke vehicles, but they reportedly supplied 2,000 to the government which were now plying on city roads. Similar ordinances are now being considered in other provinces of Pakistan. A new form of transport in Pakistan is the Qing-Qi (pronounced "ching-chee"), which is a cross between a motorcycle and auto-rickshaw. It runs just like a motorcycle but comes with three wheels instead of two and carries a much heavier load on its back. It is an urban transport vehicle and is used mostly for short distances.
Taxis
Another very common sight seen mainly at hotels and airports yellow taxis. The drivers charge according to a meter located on the dashboard of the car, but fares can be negotiated if there is no meter. The cab drivers are reliable and will take passengers to any destination required. There are also numerous privately run services that use cars and minibuses of various types throughout Pakistan, providing a reliable and quick means of transport. Recently, the Radio Cab was introduced in Pakistan, which offers riders to call a toll free number to get in touch with the closes taxi stand. This service is currently offered in Islamabad, Rawalpindi, Karachi, Peshawar and Lahore. Services for Hyderabad and Sialkot are now being made.
Cars
Over the years, the number of cars on Pakistani roads has tripled. Traffic jams are a common scene in major cities across Pakistan. The most popular cars on Pakistani roads are, Suzuki Mehran, Daihatsu Coure, Suzuki Alto, Honda Civic and Toyota Vitz. In late 2005, Suzuki introduced the APV (All-Purpose Vehicle) the first luxury family van in Pakistan. Utility vehicles (SUVs or 4x4s) are also a familiar sight in Pakistan. This type of car is very multi functional as it allows long distance and off road travel, within cities as well as city to city travel. The most popular models are the Toyota Land Cruiser, Toyota Prado, Mitsubishi Pajero, Kia Sportage can also be sighted.
Saturday, February 28, 2009
Society And Culture Of Pakistan
Pakistan has a rich and unique culture that has preserved established traditions throughout history. Many cultural practices, foods, monuments, and shrines were inherited from the rule of Muslim Mughal and Afghan emperors. The national dress of shalwar qamiz is originally of Central Asian origin derived from Turko-Iranian nomadic invaders and is today worn in all parts of Pakistan. Women wear brightly coloured shalwar qamiz, while men often wear solid-coloured ones. In cities western dress is also popular among the youth and the business sector.
Cloth market in Karachi
Pakistani society is largely multilingual and 96% Muslim, with high regard for traditional family values, although urban families have grown into a nuclear family system due to the socio-economic constraints imposed by the traditional joint family system. Recent decades have seen the emergence of a middle class in cities like Karachi, Lahore, Rawalpindi, Hyderabad, Faisalabad, and Peshawar that wish to move in a more liberal direction,[77] as opposed to the northwestern regions bordering Afghanistan that remain highly conservative and dominated by centuries-old regional tribal customs. Increasing globalization has increased the influence of "Western culture" with Pakistan ranking 46th on the A.T. Kearney/FP Globalization Index.[78] There are an approximated four million people of Pakistani descent living abroad,[79] with close to a half-million expatriates living in the United States,[80] around a million living in Saudi Arabia[81] and nearly one million in the United Kingdom, all providing burgeoning cultural connections.[82]
The variety of Pakistani music ranges from diverse provincial folk music and traditional styles such as Qawwali and Ghazal Gayaki to modern forms fusing traditional and western music, such as the synchronisation of Qawwali and western music by the world renowned Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan. In addition Pakistan is home to many famous folk singers such as the late Alam Lohar, who is also well known in Indian Punjab. The arrival of Afghan refugees in the western provinces has rekindled Pashto and Persian music and established Peshawar as a hub for Afghan musicians and a distribution centre for Afghan music abroad.[83] State-owned Pakistan Television Corporation (PTV) and Pakistan Broadcasting Corporation were the dominant media outlets, but there are now numerous private television channels. Various American, European, and Asian television channels and films are available to the majority of the Pakistani population via private Television Networks, cable, and satellite television. There are also small indigenous film industries based in Lahore and Peshawar (often referred to as Lollywood). Although Bollywood films have been banned from being played in public cinemas since 1965,[84] Indian film stars are still generally popular in Pakistan due to the fact that Pakistanis are easily able to buy Bollywood films from local shops for private home viewing. But recently Pakistan allowed selected Bollywood films to be shown in Pakistani cinemas.
The architecture of the areas now constituting Pakistan can be designated to four distinct periods — pre-Islamic, Islamic, colonial and post-colonial. With the beginning of the Indus civilization around the middle of the 3rd millennium[85] B.C., an advanced urban culture developed for the first time in the region, with large structural facilities, some of which survive to this day.[86] Mohenjo Daro, Harappa and Kot Diji belong to the pre-Islamic era settlements. The rise of Buddhism and the Persian and Greek influence led to the development of the Greco-Buddhist style, starting from the 1st century CE. The high point of this era was reached with the culmination of the Gandhara style. An example of Buddhist architecture is the ruins of the Buddhist monastery Takht-i-Bahi in the northwest province. The arrival of Islam in today's Pakistan meant a sudden end of Buddhist architecture.[87] However, a smooth transition to predominantly pictureless Islamic architecture occurred. The most important of the few completely discovered buildings of Persian style is the tomb of the Shah Rukn-i-Alam in Multan. During the Mughal era design elements of Islamic-Persian architecture were fused with and often produced playful forms of the Hindustani art. Lahore, occasional residence of Mughal rulers, exhibits a multiplicity of important buildings from the empire, among them the Badshahi mosque, the fortress of Lahore with the famous Alamgiri Gate, the colourful, still strongly Persian seeming Wazir Khan Mosque as well as numerous other mosques and mausoleums. Also the Shahjahan Mosque of Thatta in Sindh originates from the epoch of the Mughals. In the British colonial period, predominantly functional buildings of the Indo-European representative style developed from a mixture of European and Indian-Islamic components. Post-colonial national identity is expressed in modern structures like the Faisal Mosque, the Minar-e-Pakistan and the Mazar-e-Quaid.
The literature of Pakistan covers the literatures of languages spread throughout the country, namely Urdu, Sindhi, Punjabi, Pushto, Baluchi as well as English[88] in recent times and in the past often Persian as well. Prior to the 19th century, the literature mainly consisted of lyric poetry and religious, mystical and popular materials. During the colonial age the native literary figures, under the influence of the western literature of realism, took up increasingly different topics and telling forms. Today, short stories enjoy a special popularity.[89] The national poet of Pakistan, Muhammad Iqbal, suggested the creation of a separate homeland for the Muslims of India. His book The Reconstruction of Religious Thought in Islam is a major work of modern Islamic philosophy. The most well-known representative of the contemporary Urdu literature of Pakistan is Faiz Ahmed Faiz. Sufi Shah Abdul Latif is considered one of the most outstanding mystical poets.[90] Mirza Kalich Beg has been termed the father of modern Sindhi prose.[91] In Punjabi, naats and qawaalis are delivered. The Pushto literature tradition is a cultural link between Pakistan and neighbouring Afghanistan. Extensive lyric poetry and epic poems have been published in Pushto. In Baluchi language songs and ballads are popular.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)