The people of Karachi have come out of their homes against the ineffectiveness of the officials and government. Even after five days, the water is still flooding in the streets of the financial hub of the country. One can well imagine the scale of loss that the recent rains have inflicted on Karachi’s inhabitants after watching the footage of sewage water entering homes and shops. The havoc of rain has indiscriminately affected the elite and the poor. Therefore, the citizens are well in their rights to protest the inefficiency of the government, as was witnessed outside the Cantonment Board Clifton (CBC) offices on Monday.
The protest perhaps, is the only way the city’s administration will know that the residents of the metropolis are not tolerating this decades-long incompetence any more. Karachi should theoretically be the most progressive and developed city in Pakistan, just going by the numbers it generates for the national economy. In any other country, the sheer scale and size of Karachi would entail that it gets special considerations and stands out as the model that other cities would want to replicate. But according to a 2019 report, Karachi is one of the most unliveable cities in the world. Karachi is that unfortunate city which every political party wants to hold, but none is willing to take ownership of.
Undoubtedly, much of the blame for Karachi’s problems lies on the shoulders of Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) that is ruling Sindh for more than a decade now. However, people must also hold the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM)—the de facto ruling party in Karachi—accountable. As an ally of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), MQM cannot just shrug in helpless powerlessness. Regrettably, the ordinary people have become the undeserved casualty in the “scramble for Karachi” among political parties.
The recent rains must serve the purpose of an eye-opener for the political leadership of the country. All the stakeholders must set their differences aside to overhaul Karachi. They should devise a joint strategy to fix the sanitation and sewage problems that paralyse human life whenever it rains.