Drowning city

We know that extreme weather can create havoc. Earthquakes have been known to wipe out entire cities, cyclones have caused floods which have destroyed communities and avalanches have pushed entire villages into non-existence. But in general terms rain, which falls in most parts of the world in one form or the other, should not be creating so much peril. In some parts of the world, heavy showers are a daily fact of life. In areas affected by the monsoon – such as Pakistan – we experience heavy rainfall almost each year in late summer.

We struggle to find a way to cope with a phenomenon which occurs regularly and is a routine part of annual life. Karachi has been devastated by heavy rain over the last week with streets flooded with water, making them impassable for vehicles or pedestrians, five people dying as a result of electrocution, flights being cancelled and prolonged power shutdowns suffered by people with K-Electric stating either that it is trying to remedy the problem or that it has deliberately turned off power to prevent electrocution. The decision by municipal committees to clean drains only in July has meant sewerage and waste from sewers have been left piled up along roads adding to the misery of people.

We cannot attribute this to a 'natural disaster'. It is the utter mismanagement of our larger cities over a prolonged period of time by successive governments which has led to this. In Karachi's case, the neglect has been unreal and tragic. Worst of all, a blame game has been played each time this happened. We are seeing it again today. But the fact is that all governments that have run Karachi over the last many decades are equally responsible. It is pointless to try and point the finger at each other. Instead all the stakeholders including city planners and citizens who run groups working for civic welfare, alongside the mayor and government and the bodies which manage the daily affairs of Karachi need to sit down together and decide what is to be done. The situation has continued year after year. It has now reached a point where it will be impossible to solve it without building a consensus within which everyone works together. There should be no need for Karachi to be reduced to a complete state of pandemonium with life suspended each time it experiences heavy rain. All authorities and all political parties need to work together despite their differences in order to solve this problem.