AS monsoon rains have started playing havoc with normal life in other parts of the country as well, the focus of the authorities, understandably, remains on Karachi which remains paralyzed due to urban flooding. The federal cabinet, in its meeting on Tuesday, deliberated at length on different aspects of the situation and the Prime Minister is scheduled to visit the city on Friday to announce, what is being labelled, a major package for solution of problems of Karachi. Chief Justice of Pakistan is also seized with the issues of the mega city especially performance of K-Electric and Army Chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa too has visited the city to have firsthand knowledge of the situation and give boost to efforts to tackle it effectively.
No doubt, there is a grim scenario in Karachi due to amalgamation of a number of problems that remained almost unattended in the past due to lack of commitment and interest on the part of authorities concerned. However, there is no reason the situation would not improve if there is required level of will by different tiers of leadership and resources of local government, provincial government and the centre are exploited properly to address those problems as per priority of the residents of the city. It is encouraging that instead of singing different songs, both the provincial and the federal governments are talking in terms of cooperation to tackle the situation as its prolongation is negatively impacting the entire economy of the country besides continuation of woes of the people of Karachi. It is to be seen what specific programme the federal government is going to announce but discussions in the federal cabinet indicate the authorities were on the right track as it identified problems of tanker mafia, sewerage, solid waste management and transport in the city and hopefully concrete programmes would be implemented to resolve them on scientific and sustainable basis. The projects to be launched can only succeed if they have the ownership of the provincial government and in this regard the remarks of Information Minister Shibli Faraz that the Sindh Government would be taken on board are encouraging. There is also reason for optimism when the COAS has also assured Army’s full support for plans being made by the federal and the provincial governments to resolve Karachi’s civic and infrastructure problems. Medium and long-term plans are needed to realize this objective but the immediate task is to ensure return to normal life through drainage of water, cleaning of nullahs, lifting of garbage and restoration of electricity supply.
