Research suggests that small towns and suburbs have a lower crime rate compared to big cities. That may be so, but what about the small cities that happen to be in close proximity to cosmopolitan centres? Say, Hub? The crime rate, I say, is good enough to give Karachi a run for its money.
Hub is the industrial city of Lasbela district in Balochistan, while Karachi is the world’s 7th largest and Pakistan’s most densely-populated city, which is the capital city of Sindh. But the two cities are pretty much neighbours in terms of geographical distance.
With a population of 0.2 million, Hub has been experiencing a high crime rate because of multiple reasons and one of the factors can safely be related to its proximity to Karachi. Hub is used as a safe haven for many an absconding criminal from Karachi. Once they feel settled with the help of the local gangsters, they start their criminal activities in Hub.
Since the crime rate went through the roof in the metropolis, it was a matter of time before Hub was to feel the impact. Today, motorcycle snatching is at its peak, while mugging incidents are frequent enough to rival the rate in Karachi. In both cases, there is no end in sight.
Since Hub has recently been notified as a new district, the provincial government would do well to reshape the policing system to curb the increasing crime rate in the city.
TANIA ROONJHO
HUB
