The recent rains in Karachi have revealed to us many attitudes of the society. First, there is a section of the society that criticizes the Sindh government as part of their hatred and prejudice of the PPP and has been blaming the PPP for the problems of the city and the chaos during rains.
The second category comprises those people who declare encroachments to be the main cause of rains and urban flooding.
Read: Flooding in Karachi
The third category is occupied by the PTI, and today they seem to be blaming the MQM and the PPP for the problems in Karachi in the recent rains.
Then there is a small section in the media whose job is to point out the problems, and it is doing its job well to some extent, but despite this, there are elements within the mainstream media and social media who have been mentally very close to the first and third segment of our society as they too are convinced that the havoc wreaked by the rains on us is all because of the PPP and the Sindh Government.
Read: Army Chief takes aerial view of Karachi flood situation
This time in Karachi, it rained at a record level again. The accumulation of water during huge spells of rain is a natural consequence, and it happens all over the world because the speed at which water flows in drains and waterways is much lower than the actual speed of the rain. If it rains at this speed, water can accumulate. A 500 mm bottle can’t sustain an amount of more than 500 mm, and this is the case with almost all the drainage systems when they have to drain 100mm of rain.
The recent rains in Karachi were much more than the infrastructure of the city could afford. But despite this, there was nowhere water present on the main roads of the city within 3 to 4 hours once the rain stopped.
This also happens in Lahore, Sydney, Paris, Peshawar, and Mumbai heavy rains result in urban floods as climate change is a threat which needs a universal cure, and no country alone can cope with it. It is not a reasonable attitude to attribute the failure of a government to a natural disaster. Rather, it is a political adventure. It doesn’t even solve the problems, but it does end up in accusations and arguments.
Karachites may have witnessed the worst rainfall, but again it’s the government and its representative who were there on roads from dawn to dusk to tackle the situation. The PPP ministers and office-bearers remained on the roads to help the government machinery with whatever possible help a party could extend.
But where has been the PTI or President of Pakistan who belongs to the same city, and dozens of PTI MNAs and MPAs who got millions of rupees in funds from the federal government, but where have those funds been invested?
Critics of the Sindh government are unable to answer that the area of DHA, Clifton and other cantonments in Karachi, including Sharah a Faisal, are not under the control of the Sindh government. And despite this, the Sindh government widened the roads and installed a drainage system there as well, which resulted in water being pumped out in a few hours today where rainwater used to stand for weeks.
The city of Karachi pays the highest taxes to the country, but which major Nullah or road has the federal government built here to date? This anti-PPP section is also unable to answer why the cantonment and DHA built residential areas on rivers and Nullahs. Why is the name of the party occupying the lands of this city’s treatment plant not mentioned by these anti-PPP elements?
The second category that cites the occupation of rivers and canals as the main reason for urban funding in Karachi they are true to some extent but isn’t it the case that even in developed countries where there are no encroachment of rivers and canals and no housing schemes on them, they also face the risk of urban flooding.
It needs to be understood that urban flooding is caused by climate change. Excessive rainfall is also a factor of climate change. And if it is assumed that urban-dwelling on rivers and canals is the only reason for urban funding, then many areas of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and villages in Balochistan have been submerged in rains where waterways have existed for centuries. There are no barriers of any kind. But still, they have been facing floods.
The third group that seems to be blaming the PPP and MQM for the recent rains is the PTI. This class has sworn not to tell the truth. A few years ago, this class, on the orders of the Supreme Court, were rejoicing over the award of the contract to clean the drains and rivers of Karachi to the FWO and today says that drainage and Nullas were not cleared up because the PPP is in power.
Last year some PTI MNAs were seen moving with machinery to clean the drains and Nullahs. But the city of Karachi begs the question: if last year they and the FWO had drained and cleaned the drains, where did the garbage from the drains go? One should find out where is the sludge and filth that was taken out by these PTI members and FWO. PTI is all good at making false promises. Karachi did not get even 11 rupees out of the promise made by the Imran Khan government to give 1100 billion rupees to Karachi.
PTI has dozens of MPAs and MNAs from Karachi. These MNAs and MPAs are only seen on social media and that too during monsoon rains, while people from other parties are out there helping the citizens on the streets.
Local Government Minister Syed Nasir Hussain Shah, Labour Minister Saeed Ghani, Information Minister Sharjeel Inam Memon and Administrator KMC Barrister Murtaza Wahab were regularly seen inspecting drainage arrangements on the streets of Karachi all day instead of being in their respective constituencies. This shows a lot about the character of the PPP when it comes to services for Karachi.
I would also talk about the media bias the PPP faces. As there are a few members of the media who were seen blaming the PPP for the problem Karachites have to face during rains. I ask these gentlemen why are they reluctant to mention the names of those who destroyed Karachi’s Master Plan by allowing massive commercialization in the city?
How is the PPP responsible for Karachi’s problems when Karachi has always given the mandate to anti-PPP elements? How many times has this city mandated the PPP since 1970? Didn’t those who got the mandate occupy the parks, drains and water treatment plants of Karachi? How come the PPP is solely responsible for this mishap? Were plots not commercialized during Jamaat-e-Islami’s tenure? Has MQM not been in power with PTI for the last 4 years?
Blaming PPP or any other party is not the way out. We have to accept the fact that Karachi is below sea level. It is a natural process for us to have difficulty getting rainwater to the sea.
Karachi needs a better drainage system, but isn’t it a fact that more than half of Karachi’s population will have to demolish their houses for this system?
If a city like Paris is not safe from urban flooding, how come Karachi manage it when it is below sea level. By politicizing rain and natural disasters, we can increase our vote bank, but if the government belongs to anyone and it rains the way it did in recent years, it is not possible to avoid urban flooding. The Sindh government is taking every step for the development of Karachi within its resources. Where there are federally controlled areas in Karachi, 99% of development work has been done by the Sindh government. One example is Sharah a Faisal and the other is Cant Station Road. How many water storms were constructed by the PTI government? How many water pathways were given funds? Name any? They have given billions of rupees funds to their MNAs but where have they spent this all money? Why not a single federal-funded project for managing rainwater was constructed?
Again we must not do politics of rains and floods as these natural disasters are not in anyone’s control. We need to understand that the problem of flooding in Karachi is not only due to overflowing Nullahs and drainage systems, but overburdened drainage, increased population and unregulated construction. Buildings constructed without paying any heed to the natural topography and hydro-geomorphology all result in urban flooding. Once again we need to go for making another industrial city somewhere between Karachi and Jamshoro. Former President Asif Ali Zardari always wanted Zulfiqarabad there so that population and other such issues can be tackled and the risk of natural disasters is avoided.
The writer is a Coordinator to the Minister for Local Government and Public Health Engineering Department, Government of Sindh. He can be reached at @Tarikkhattak on Twitter.
