Working in a Canadian company in Ottawa, Canada, in the early seventies I was so eager to see snowfall. Having grown up in Karachi and never having the privilege to visit Murree or Nathiagali or any other hill station during winter I had never seen snowfall but heard about it several times increasing my curiosity.
My supervisor was a burly Canadian called ‘Bernie’ and I would frequently ask him, “Bernie when is snow going to fall”. He usually answered candidly but sometimes he would blow his top.
He would say you will be followed by a four-letter word ‘stop’, asking about snowfall when you start shoveling it. Why should an ordinary citizen be bothered with shoveling snow when we have a municipal authority with all kinds of gadgets to do the job I often wondered? I found the answer when I moved into an apartment on my own.
It was early winter and we already had a snow storm. Sheets of snow were piled up right to the door of my apartment and the person who had come to deliver the keys said with an almost sadistic smile, “Go ahead and start shoveling”.
It was then that I realized that as the property owner, you are responsible for the removal of the snow from the sidewalks adjacent to your property.
Even if you may have made an arrangement with your tenant in a written lease about snow removal, but as the property owner, the municipality will be looking to you for compliance. The owner also has other responsibilities, which are enforced by the state.
The landlord must keep the building and the rental units in a good state of repair complying with all health, safety, housing and maintenance standards. Landlords are responsible for repairs even if the tenant knew about problems before agreeing to rent the home.
What an organized response to the trials and tribulations imposed by nature which are increasing in intensity with each passing day requiring every citizen to play his or her part in the upkeep of their city.
This brings me to the bustling and bursting at the seams city of Karachi which has no snowfall but has many other challenges that face the municipal corporation nearly every day.
One major problem that is simple yet very tragic is the removal of manhole covers. Over the years hundreds of children and adults have lost their lives by falling in manholes the majority of which had their covers stolen. Many campaigns have been launched by different organizations but to no avail. Maybe we can try to follow the Canadian path of participation of the entire community if necessary through a law.
How about people of every lane are made responsible for the covers of manholes in their area? At a later stage this could include taking care of stray dogs, who too are responsible for death of children and adults and yes getting rid of stagnant water after heavy rains, which they could accomplish by working together with municipal teams and their equipment.
One thing that we have and Canada does not have is manpower; still the Canadians look after their neighborhood together with the municipal corporation and bravely face severe snowstorms coming out unscathed.
Can we as Karachiites put our valuable strength in numbers to the various challenges facing this city and work together to overcome such disastrous happenings as little children falling victim to open manholes setting an example for the entire country and the region?
Today I got a call from my daughter in Canada. They have just weathered another major snow storm and had just trudged in after several hours of snow shoveling together with the rest of the family. This however is not the end of the story.
Another snow storm is expected at the coming weekend though of lessor intensity. Rest assured that few hours after it has passed the sidewalks will be ready to receive guests, signifying the magic of a municipal system supported by the population for the benefit of all.
With growing population and unpredictable weather patterns that mostly impact our part of the world it is imperative that we all work together for a win-win situation for our city.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2025
The writer is a well-known columnist