Restoring Karachi's lost status

Bad governance and political expediencies have brought Karachi - once known as the 'city of lights' and for long the envy of other metropolises like Lahore - to a point where it now finds itself listed among the 10 bottom cities in the 2015 Global Livability Index. In its recent 'Pakistan Development Update' report, the World Bank identifies the reasons for this unsavoury status as a complex political environment, poor governance and weak financial and institutional capacities. The report further notes that the business environment has been hampered by large infrastructure gaps, frequent power outages, congestion, political instability, corruption and extortion. The obvious result is that the country's commercial capital's competitiveness has declined relative to other cities. None of these, though, are new or surprising revelations.
For several years now these issues have repeatedly been highlighted by concerned citizens, business community, and the media but to no avail. In fact, even the apex court has been taking notices of various problems besetting the city ranging from a serious law and order situation to civic issues such as rubbish heaps lying along roads and in rainwater drains, and billboards at all sorts of places causing obstructions in traffic flows, ordering the government to take an urgent action. Still nothing moved. Thanks to the Rangers' operations, the law and order situation has improved to a large extent but all else remains unaddressed. The WB report has also offered several suggestions what it calls 'strategic pillars' to transform Karachi into a world-class metropolis. The first of these 'pillars' is inclusive, co-ordinated and accountable institutions; the second, greening for sustainably and resilience, closing infrastructure gaps and safeguarding funds for maintenance; third, leveraging economic, social and environmental assets with the involvement of the private sector in infrastructure provision; and fourth, smart policies to manage service, enhance competitiveness, facilitate engagement and improve investment projects. As important as these suggestions are, a strong political will is needed to implement them, which has been missing thus far.
The new younger and energetic Chief Minister, Syed Murad Ali Shah, certainly has brought improvement upon the laid-back governance style of his predecessor. But it is not for the CM to manage the affairs of a city. That responsibility belongs to local governments. Unfortunately, the ruling party has remained disinclined to devolve power to this vital third tier of government. At first, it kept delaying the LG elections on one pretext or another despite the Supreme Court's repeated orders. And then under a new law took away some of its vital powers. Now that the city government is finally functional, service delivery must get top priority or, as the WB report warns, the city would be headed towards a spatially unsustainable inefficient and unlivable form. One can only hope the city government will get all the help it needs to once again turn Karachi into a world-class metropolis.