Village transport

As traffic jams clog Karachi’s centre, thousands of villagers living in the outskirts of the city have to make do with camels for transport as the government has yet to build proper roads or arrange for a viable public transport system. Despite the government’s claims of rural Karachi development, no transport has been made available in these areas to date. Ironically the centre of the city is clogged with traffic jams each day; on the other hand, there isn’t a single vehicle for the thousands of residents in Karachi’s rural areas. There are 12,000 villages in Karachi located in three jurisdictions, including Mubarak Village, Deh Mann, Deh Allah Bano, Abdullah Goth, Lal Bakher, Deh Gond Pass, and most of them do not have proper roads. They are largely populated by fishermen and farmers living in small houses. These areas do not have basic amenities such as water, power, healthcare and education.

There are only two buses for the 104 villages of the Union Council Gabopat, and they leave the villages in the morning and return in the evening. Only one bus comes twice to a particular village from Mubarak Village to Lea Market. There are two main rural health centres in Mubarak Village and Deh Allah Bano that were built many years ago but they have no doctors or nurses. They are closed because even the doctors who do not have their own vehicles cannot reach these centres due to lack of the availability of transport.

Sarfraz Haroon

Mubarak Village, Karachi