Karachi is the main financial and industrial centre of Pakistan.
ISLAMABAD: Karachi is the main financial and industrial centre of Pakistan. The city has a formal economy estimated at $164 billion, collects over a third of Pakistan’s tax revenue and contributes approximately 20% to the country’s GDP. It is also the country’s most ethnically, culturally, linguistically and religiously diverse city as millions of people from various provinces move to it every year to earn a living.
Since the independence, the city has single-handedly contributed to the country in almost every aspect. But unfortunately, nobody has ever ‘owned’ the city in return. Successive governments at the Centre and in the Sindh province have kept avoiding the city’s basic problems that have multiplied over time and become more complex. Now Karachi, regardless of its contribution, is in a deplorable state.
A pessimist could think of Karachi as an amalgamation of problems that have significant social and political consequences. Issues such as poverty, pollution, land contamination, water shortage and illiteracy have been persisting for many years. These problems also go hand in hand with corruption — a termite that has eaten into the very foundations of this beautiful city. Due to the widespread corruption, issues such as discrimination on the basis of religion, class divide, ethnic violence, etc have arisen. All the things that make Karachi truly diverse have now turned destructive.
There is a dire need to improve Karachi’s infrastructure and ground-level systems. While the responsibility to fix the issues rests with the Centre and the Sindh government, citizens will also have to do their bit. All stakeholders need to work together so that the ‘city of lights’ can be restored. Is there anyone who will stand tall in the face of this Herculean task?
Maryum Sardar
Published in The Express Tribune, April 22nd, 2020.
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