Shah Fahad
THIS year Sindh faced devastating rains in the monsoon season, the dilapidated infrastructure of the province could not offer any relief to the residents. Water-logging submerged all the important roads, bridges and underpasses, bikes and cars were seen floating and people were forced to take shelter at offices and mosques. The local administration was unprepared for this situation and blamed the unusual weather conditions for the clutter in the city. Almost 40 people lost their lives in two days because of the urban mismanagement, ignorance, and corruption of the local administration. Natural disasters that wreak havoc on the population often result in causing more damage to the poor section of the society rather than the rich. The flash floods in villages wipe out their livestock and the absence of medical facilities in remote areas further exacerbates their problems. Such situations increase the gap between the two social classes. The rapidly growing population of Karachi is heading towards spatially unstable and inefficient living areas resulting in a constantly depleting standard of living. The exclusion of marginalized parts of the population from basic urban welfare in interior Sindh and especially Karachi is probably among the biggest challenges that require the immediate attention of the Administration. This is the reason why the city of lights remains among the 10 least liveable cities on earth for several years.
The hapless people of Sindh looked up to Pakistan People’s Party, which was supposed to make the lives easier for the extremely poor masses in the interior Sindh but the reality is otherwise. People in remote areas are living in the stone ages and deprived of the necessities of life, such as clean drinking water, sewerage system, road, hospitals, schools, etc. Instead of stepping up after the demise of Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, the senior leadership of the party found themselves in unlawful activities and were booked in various money laundering and corruption cases, while the rest of them are nothing more than a laughingstock. MQM that had a lot of influence in Karachi spent much of its energy in creating chaos rather than coming up with a long-term sustainable plan. Their regime was replete with graft, bribery and corruption.
The city of lights was submerged during the 27th August downpours, political personalities were sharing pictures of dry underpasses wrongly quoting that the water has been drained. The leadership of both PPP and MQM kept blaming each other and seemed confused by calling the situation propaganda to malign the Sindh government. The low-lying clusters of the city were among the worst affected areas by the inundations. The electricity supply remained off because of water-logging in most areas. The danger of infectious disease outbreak is already hovering over the city.
The political leadership lacked urban planning expertise that resulted in this quagmire. Even after decades, the Administration could not complete the maintenance of the drainage system. The flood pathways along the road are either blocked or nonexistent; the floodwater drainage system remained ignored. Fortunately, Karachi used to have sewerage and the floodwater drainage system before partition, but the constant ignorance and mismanagement led to such a situation where 60% of the population does not even have a sewerage system. The criminal ignorance of the local government on the haphazard construction and illegal establishments over nullahs always create hurdles during the desilting process. The meteorological department issued warnings for the upcoming weather system, but major sewerage lines remained chocked and local government remained immobilized until NDMA arrived at the scene.
Climate change has started to show its true colours and it will be the biggest challenge in the coming years for the Administration. It is high time to come up with a shared vision for a sustainable and liveable Karachi by improving the institutional governance of entities. Cleaning of nullahs is not enough to save Karachi from such situations in the future; therefore, flood pathways are required across the city. The informal establishments on the nullahs need attention and the procurement of proper equipment for the desilting is required. Efficient collection and transfer of waste to garbage stations are required to ensure that the solid waste is not entangled with the drainage system. The establishment of district-wise disaster management teams can ensure timely action in case of any emergency. These actions need to be taken without any further delay otherwise future weather systems can cause irreversible damage to the city and will harm the economic outlook of the country.
—The writer is freelance columnist, based in Karachi.
