EDITORIAL: Monsoon rains have been wreaking havoc in Karachi, the country’s largest city and its financial capital. A large number of people lost their lives from drowning, electrocution and house and wall collapses. All roads, streets and markets were flooded and power supply suspended in most areas bringing life to a standstill, whilst hundreds of houses situated along the Lyari and Malir Rivers were washed away, forcing their hapless residents to seek refuge elsewhere. Many remained stranded in other areas. The National Disaster Management Authority together with Pakistan Army has been engaged in rescue and relief operations. It is disgraceful that this should be happening in a city which provides the Centre with bulk of its revenue and accounts for almost all of the provincial government’s revenue generation.
True, Thursday’s 223.5 mm downpour was the heaviest in 79 years. But even moderate rains during the recent years have been causing a lot of death and destruction due to the provincial authorities’ lack of interest in infrastructure development and urban planning. The roads and power supply system are in a dilapidated condition. The city has been expanding in a haphazard manner. Public spaces reserved for parks and water flows have been allowed to be encroached upon by housing colonies and commercial plazas. In the absence of a proper waste disposal arrangement, for years people have been dumping solid waste into storm drains. Nearly half of the population lives in slums built atop these drains and waterways. Most of the residents of these areas, migrant workers from other parts of the country, are often blamed for overburdening the infrastructure and causing unaesthetic complexity to city, ignoring the fact that they too contribute to its revenue generation means. The events of the last few days have made it clear that business as usual is no longer an option.
In a telephonic conversation with Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah, Prime Minister Imran Khan assured him of all-out assistance in providing relief to the people badly affected by the rains. In a tweet he also said that a plan would soon be announced for a permanent solution to the problems caused by floods by cleaning of ‘nullahs’, fixing of the sewage system and resolving the huge challenge of water supply to the people of Karachi. He also spoke to the Sindh CM while chairing a meeting of National Coordination Committee (NCC) on Friday, offering federal government’s help to Sindh government. Given that a herculean effort and enormous resources are needed to clean up the mess the city is in, that is welcome gesture. But the long-term solution to Karachi’s myriad problems, including flooding, encroachments, paucity of clean water, and non-existence of public transportation, lies neither with the Centre nor the provincial government, it is the responsibility of local government. Unfortunately, it lacks both financial autonomy and administrative control over the city affairs. Leaders of the ruling party in Sindh bristle at any suggestion about changes to the 18th Amendment that gives provinces greater autonomy, and yet are unwilling to devolve power to the third tier of governance. Unless and until the same principle of decentralization is applied to local governments, Karachi will continue to suffer on account of one problem or another.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2020
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