Why should urban floods and heat islands continue to play havoc in Karachi?

Abu Bakar is not alone when says he is dreading the onslaught of monsoon rains, which will bring the entire life to a standstill for days. He owns a biryani outlet in Kharadar Chowk and knows that as in the case of so many past monsoons he will have to bear the loss of revenue and excessive damage to his premises.

Kharadar is located in the Black Town that colonial administrators labelled as Bunder Quarter, the native quarter as opposed to Civil Lines where white ruling elite resided.

This is an area where the oldest communities of Karachi had settled. These were mostly native followers who arrived in the train of the armies of the Kumpany Bahadur as British East India Company was known when it ruthlessly imposed its rule on Sindh (Scinde). In 1843 General Sir Charles James Fox Napier declared Karachi as the capital of the newly annexed province. It was the same Napier who after his shabby treatment of the Talpur rulers, famously wrote “I have Scinde” (sinned).

In Kharadar Chowk, all the eight streets that emanated from it, were once dotted with exuberant 19th century two- or three-story structures built in attractive ochre-coloured Gizri stone. Their arcaded fronts, predominantly designed with semi-circular Roman arches, were decorated with delicately carved mouldings.

The richness of the decoration was a testimonial of the prosperity of mercantile class of natives in the late 19th century. These small structures that presented highly attractive street ensembles, I have termed “Imperial Vernacular” style of architecture. Such buildings were built by subjugated natives to express their rise in society, but felt compelled to follow architectural vocabulary that was popular in England at the time.

In the last few decades unchecked encroachments, in order to build multi-storey buildings, have made the area extremely dense and congested, resulting in a highly polluted environment. All open spaces that once existed in the area have almost all been usurped by powerful and influential groups. One of them, for example, has fearlessly occupied an entire graveyard. Even historic trees have been hacked that once provided shade to ancient graves in the “Muslim Graveyard.”

Multi-story walk-ups have been built by destroying heritage buildings, even occupying their open-to-sky courtyards that once provided open, airy spaces. With no green spaces left to absorb storm water, it is no wonder that all the rainwater flows into the Chowk and causes heavy flooding. Since there are inadequate arrangements for draining storm water, flooding is a harbinger of misery not only for shopkeepers but equally to a vast number of local residents.

Confronted with unsurmountable urban issues, it has become essential to adopt a vastly different vision that incorporates an entirely new urban vocabulary to provide ecological and social justice to residents, particularly marginalized sections and low-income groups.

This would mean transforming degraded environments into natural and healthy enclaves by setting up a collaborative arrangement of citizens and local administration, based on design interventions that would treat flood waters as an ally rather than an adversary thus creating healthy environments for all.

Since I have successfully implemented this new urban vision I know that it is possible to do so by creating eco streets in highly congested urban areas. Instead of waiting for investment by government, streets can be taken up by communities themselves where food forests and street forests can provide a healthy environment, also incorporating places for interaction of residents especially women and children.

Denso Hall Rahguzar Walking Street near Medicine Market in Karachi’s Market Quarter was the first eco street, while another has been developed as Kharadar Bagh in the historic Kharadar Chowk. Both eco enclaves are located in areas that suffered from excessive urban blight: proliferation of hazardous tangle of electric cables, broken footpaths and streets, overflowing gutters and an abundance of garbage. These were highly polluted environments posing continued threat to human wellbeing.

If you visit any of these two eco streets today, you will be pleasantly surprised to find a delightful environment. These are green islands in the midst of extremely degraded environments. The dense street forests have led to the creation of cool, pollution-free healthy environments, and boosted biodiversity attracting birds and butterflies. Another reason for cool atmosphere is the removal of entire asphalt surfaces and concrete pavements, and replacing them with permeable terracotta tiles which cool the air as water evaporates.

These eco streets have achieved zero-flood status due to the placement of aquifer wells that absorb a vast quantity of flood waters. The combination of terracotta cobbles, street forests, porous pavements as well as aquifer wells conserve rainwater, boosting soil fertility that leads to spectacular growth of trees.

We have provided the design of streets as eco streets which residents in Kharadar are gearing up to take up themselves, while the office of Deputy Commissioner South is facilitating the effort. I am confident that creation of several eco streets in Kharadar will bring the required relief to residents in the area.

The first step is to make aquifer trenches on both ends of the streets to prevent entry of flood waters; this would also provide protection to the Kharadar Chowk. The results of such simple devices are clear in the Police Chowki Library terracotta-tiled forecourt, which, in spite of being lower than the surrounding streets does not get flooded when the chowk itself is full of storm water.

Once the aquifer trenches have been completed, Abu Bakar and other residents will be able to enjoy the blessings of a flood-free Kharadar Chowk. If communities in other parts of Karachi follow the example of Kharadar Chowk residents by creating eco-streets in every locality, the entire city could become a flood-free and heat island-free metropolis.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2024