After performing the groundbreaking ceremony of the Karachi Circular Railway, Prime Minister Imran Khan spent some time in Karachi dilating upon the problems that Sindh has been facing. In his meeting with nationalist leaders and some veteran politicians of Sindh he gave assurance of the centre’s support in resolving what he termed ‘decades-old crises’ in parts of the province. Since the Pakistan People’s Party has been ruling in Sindh for over 13 years at a stretch now – an unprecedented feat in this province – the PM’s remarks could be seen as a rebuke to the Sindh government. During his visit to the provincial capital the PM met federal ministers and PTI leaders from Sindh, and also held dialogues with leaders of allied parties and other prominent politicians of the province.
One of the more serious issues in Karachi is the question of housing, especially in light of some new housing projects that are making thousands of indigenous people homeless. Housing is a major issue across Pakistan and the PTI government in one of its election promises talked about millions of affordable houses for common people. But here we have mega residential projects that private builders are initiating without proper demographic and social considerations. They also pose threats to the local environment which is already in danger. Converting natural habitats and cultural heritage into mega residential projects does not help the common citizen. Not unrelated to this is the Sindh government’s decision to outsource 32 schools to private sector education management organisations in the province. Essentially, it is the government’s responsibility to provide quality education to its children but in the neoliberal economy propounded by international donors and financial institutions, all basic rights of the people – from housing to education – are coming under the domain of private-sector players and both federal and provincial governments are supporting these steps. The same applies to other amenities and municipal services that have not received the attention they deserve. From community policing to development work and from education to the maintenance and repair of roads all have suffered at the hands of negligent officers and a lack of political will to solve basic urban problems – especially in Karachi.
Karachi has a population of over 20 million people and is home to millions of businesses and industries that drive the country’s economy. Unfortunately the city tries to cope with manmade and natural disasters on its own without much help from the federal and provincial governments. The KMC – deprived of many of its rightful powers – appears to be in an everlasting slumber without doing much to provide civic amenities to people. The political parties in Sindh – be it the MQM, nationalist parties, the PPP, or the PTI – all should come together to solve these problems for the benefit of the city’s residents.
