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f one reviews the tally of infrastructure development projects being undertaken in Karachi and other cities in Sindh, it shall make an impressive account. The Bus Rapid Transit - Red Line and Yellow Line, Greater Karachi Water Supply Scheme Phase IV (or K-IV), Greater Karachi Sewerage Scheme (S-III), Malir Expressway (now named Shara-i-Bhutto) and improved drainage and waste management in Sukkur, to name just a few. An attempt to gauge the relevance of these projects against their impacts on climate is hardly reassuring. A sizeable number of projects attempt to resolve some petty issues. A flyover or an underpass may shift the traffic congestion from one point to the other; it seldom eases the flow of traffic in the long run. Such projects have little impact on the vehicular emissions, which continue to rise due to massive traffic jams and poor regulation on smoke emitting vehicles. Similarly, generation of new options for waste management only partially address the rising volume of municipal solid waste. The volume has been rising exponentially, thanks largely to greater consumerism and lifestyle changes. Lack of segregation of organic from inorganic waste makes large-scale recycling an uphill task. None of these projects bring relief to the city’s residents in respect to climate risks.
Many of these issues were deliberated in detail during the preparation of the Karachi Climate Action Plan that was completed and launched in 2023. Based on substantial exploratory work, baseline studies, consultations with stakeholders and members of the civil society, officials of various government departments and professionals. The plan identified several climate related risks that the metropolis faces.
Urban heat impacts are now a commonplace observation during extended summer months. The city experiences instances of extreme heat on a routine basis. The lack of easy access to water supply to under privileged communities, poor ventilation and absence of electricity—due to breakdown or loadshedding regimes—make life miserable for the ordinary.
Urban flooding during the monsoon season, plays havoc with lives and properties. The KCAP estimates that about 6.85 percent of city dwellers are under the direct impact of urban flooding. A few hours of intense rains during August 2025 in Karachi inundated several major roads and neighbourhoods of the city. The disruptions continued even after the rain stopped.
Air pollution is a silent killer in Karachi’s urban environment. Several sources cause the degeneration of air quality and the rise in greenhouse gases. Industries, residential area activities, traffic on roads and waste management are key contributors. It is important to identify pollution generating hotspots and initiate a mitigation plan to control them effectively. Drought and coastal/ storm related risks also lurk around Karachi. The low-lying areas along the shoreline and neighbourhoods, including the Defence Housing Authority and Clifton, remain at risk. One expects planning and development of city infrastructure to take into account these risks and articulate infrastructural development priorities accordingly. We need projects that benefit the ordinary and help in environmental upliftment on a continuous basis.
A road and street rehabilitation project on a city-wide basis should be a top priority. Daily experience of commuting shows that various categories of roads have been damaged to a serious extent. Lack of periodic maintenance, poor design and quality of construction, frequent road cutting and adjustments for other forms of buried infrastructure, overlapping of new development schemes such as the on-going BRT project, frequent spill of fresh and sewage water have led to the present conditions. Many accidents have occurred on account of the disrepair of these roads.
Karachi has more than 10,000 kilometres of public roads. Whereas complete repair and maintenance is necessary for about two-thirds of this figure, the work can be divided into several phases. In the first phase, major arterial roads should be repaired. Next phases of the project can address repairs of main roads in commercial locations, neighbourhoods and key industrial areas. Design and specification of such road repair works should be optimised so that they last for longer. Complete revitalisation of green belts must be made an integral component of such an initiative. Idling or slow-moving vehicles are a cause of high emissions. The problem will ease out once road conditions improve.
Road edges, footpaths and empty plots often become locations for dumping municipal solid waste. As winters approach, people start quietly burning this trash to reduce the waste volume. This causes extraordinary increase in air pollution levels. The weight and volume of waste is on the rise due to growing consumerism. Only a fraction of this waste is lifted and disposed of. The remaining is either left unattended or burnt from time to time causing more health hazards. Garbage burning also goes on along some sensitive locations such as beaches or playgrounds.
In the vicinity of large teaching hospitals, healthcare waste can be spotted on municipal dump sites. The possibility of deadly diseases, such as hepatitis, increases due to such callousness. Smart multipurpose solutions are now available for dealing with municipal solid waste. A ‘waste to energy’ plant can use solid waste for the purpose of disposing waste and generating electricity. Such plants are now common across the world. Another version of this technology, when designed and constructed with appropriate specifications across coastal locations, can also generate potable water through de-salination.
The city suffers from a water shortage. On the other hand, precious potable water is lost either to organised theft or leakages in the system. A water loss reduction project is desperately needed. It is common knowledge that many of our water mains have completed their designed life and have been impacted by water leakage and organised thefts. Scientific fixing of leakages could help Karachiites benefit more from the available water. Rehabilitation of footpaths all along the major thorough forces is a key intervention that must be done without delay. It may be noted that adequate water supply is a fundamental pre-requisite to enable residents fight climate risks during extreme heat days and similar situations.
The writer is an academic and researcher based in Karachi.