Clean up Pakistan, says daily

In an editorial titled "Filthy Nation", a leading newspaper on Sunday called for a cleaner Pakistan.

While the disastrous state of affairs in many sectors in Pakistan was frequently commented on, the Dawn said what people and authorities seem to have become immune is "the filth that lined our roads".

A Dawn editorial also spoke about "the abysmal state of the civic apparatus in most cities and towns ... and the rapidly falling standards of the ecology and environment".

A three-judge bench of the Supreme Court has rhetorically asked whether it should have to intervene all the time to keep Karachi -- Pakistan's most populous city -- clean.

One of the judges also remarked that it was difficult to imagine how people were living in some of the smaller towns and cities, and armies of sanitation employees were drawing salaries but sitting idle.

"The judges' comments, acerbic in the extreme, showed the level of their frustration," the daily said.

It said that a vast majority of people were breathing toxic air, drinking contaminated water and commuting amid piles of burning garbage.

"The grim truth is that those who are in positions to initiate effective clean-up drives and formulate strong policies are the ones who never walk the city streets," it said.

"Here too, it is the disconnect between the public and their elected representatives that is at fault."