Karachi-a voice unheard

ARTICLE: Drowned. Submerged. Disconnected. Disman-tled. Dying. These sorrowful adjectives are not describing some mini-island of Indonesia but the largest city in Pakistan and the eighth largest city in the world - Karachi. In the city of ruins, disaster hit relentlessly, and debris struck viciously as the reality of a sham infrastructure fell piteously apart. Scenes of out of many horror movies combined have poured out of the merciless waters entering and accumulating in houses, offices and skyscrapers with hapless people shouting, screaming and crying for help helplessly.

For years, we have seen the spectacle of Karachi streets under water post scanty showers. Thus after unprecedented outpours the spectacle of "water water everywhere" was but expected. The reliance on nature to be beneficent is a good hopeful attitude but can hardly help a city that has been crumbling steadily over the decades. When you rely on luck and on others to take responsibility, the city becomes an orphan to be exploited by the mighty and the powerful. Most metro cities in the world have this dichotomy of the showcase regions and the slums. Karachi pretends to reflect the same. This year this reflection has been watered down to create equality. Aerial view show water, wastage and water everywhere.

Monsoon spells are seasonal and the pain of a few weeks of many towns submerging under filth, gutter and debris is normally over after a brief autumn spell. In majority of low lying areas citizens cry and howl as government makes vocal promises with barely nominal actions and life goes on. Not so this time. What has happened in Karachi is that rains have been so intense and with such velocity that all the supposed high lying areas have also seen water entering their fancy drawing rooms and designer bed rooms - a sight reserved for slum dwellers. The urban flooding was everywhere including the high living DHA. That is why the voice of Karachites may be more loud and more impactful this time.

Karachi has had multiple problems in various eras:

1. Political Militancy- In the 1980s and 1990s the city of Karachi was ruled by Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) and Pakistan People's Party (PPP). Law and order had become a game of which party's militant wing was more powerful and could create more threats and deaths. The 90s era was known as the body bag era where MQM gained strength as the major vote bank owner and thus whether it was the military government or PPP they managed to be the alliance whose presence in Karachi made them dictate terms. The infamous Aman Committee saw the emergence of mercenaries from all parties be it Uzair Baloch or Saulat Mirza. The funds that had to be spent on the city were laundered abroad either to fill the cash safes of the MQM leaders or the bank accounts of PPP leaders. The city was too terrified to ask for its rights and slowly turned into a structural nightmare and an infrastructural hazard.

2. The Provincial Abandonment- The 18th Constitutional Amendment was seen as decentralizing power to provinces. PPP governments in their term of 2008 to2013 realized that they had lost their vote bank in most of the provinces except rural Sindh and they decided to give as many powers to provinces to enable them to dictate terms in the future governments. When power became centralized in the province and local bodies remained non-functional due to lack of autonomy, Karachi was left to self-destroy. The city became un-owned at all levels. The 18th Amendment made federal role minimum and the lack of vote bank for PPP in Karachi made the government least interested in any development.

3. Stakeless Stakeholders- In 2013, PMLN came into power due to its Punjab vote bank. PMLN had made no bones about its lack of interest in Karachi as it did not need Karachi to win national election. Pakistan People's Party won the province but lost in Karachi so they had little at stake. This left Karachi to become a haven for grabbers. Land grabbers, water tanker mafias, building mafias - all facilitated by political and meritless appointees right from the housing ministry to KDA or KMC all build whatever, wherever with impunity. The resultant encroachment on nullahs, waterways, sewerage all choked Karachi to burst and break into pieces as it did this monsoon season.

This is an amazing city. Despite the political and administrative abuse it has confronted for decades it is still a commercial hub. It has seen the worst of target killings, ransom, muggings, grabbing, injustice and oppression and still managed to produce, export and sell more than any other city. Last year, the city, which is home to roughly 20 million people, was named among the 10 least livable cities in the world by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) in The Global Livability Index 2019. If despite all these issues Karachi continues to contribute 60% to the national kitty, it just shows how much potential there is if the conditions become anything close to normal. There are three basic jobs to be done to get Karachi out of this quagmire:

1. Restoring Natural Defense- Karachi could survive without drainage as the rainfall was minimal in the earlier times. Climate change has predicted freak incidents. While previously they would be four or five times yearly, in the last few years their incidence has jumped to 15 to 20 times a year. Flash floods are normally controlled by nature's way of protecting land through mangrove forests and wetlands that Karachi had some decades ago. With rampant land reclamation the natural defense of mangroves has finished and any disturbance in and over the sea waters hits Karachi without any barrier. A long-term plan for predicting climatic hazards and restoring the forest area is the first part of dealing with Karachi in a sustainable manner.

2. Legal and Constitutional reframing- The "you own local, provincial, federal parts so I will not do anything" has to change. Whether it means having amendments or new legislation, the responsibilities should be such that there is absolute clarity of role and clear vertical and horizontal coordination to deal with this "mind your own business" 18th Amendment refuge.

3. Citizen/Civil Society Accountability- Like Covid-19, rains in Karachi are also a leveler. This time rains have hit rich and poor. The sound, reach and impact of the rich raising the voice and holding people accountable is much more. The new 'Karachi Transformation Plan' that the federal government has presented and the provincial government will execute should be monitored by forming a KCWC, i.e., Karachi Citizen Watch Committee on the timely and as per standard completion of development projects.

From every adversity, there is an opportunity. For Karachi, this is the moment. The moment to get together at all levels - Federal, Provincial and citizen level. The moment to support development but hold each other accountable. Sometimes destiny only knocks at your door when it is knocked down.

(The writer can be reached at [email protected])

Copyright Business Recorder, 2020