The recent inundation of Karachi University’s academic and residential areas, triggered by the rupture of an 84-inch main water pipeline, served as a grim illustration of the city’s decaying infrastructure and bureaucratic neglect. As a resident of the campus, I witnessed the devastation up close: bustling courtyards turned into stagnant ponds, classrooms drowned in murky water, and faculty homes reduced to soggy ruins.
Furniture floated in flooded rooms, while families scrambled to save their belongings. Electricity was cut off, plunging entire blocks into darkness. It wasn’t just a disruption — it was institutional paralysis forced upon us by sheer mismanagement.
At the heart of this chaos lies the chronic failure of the Karachi Water and Sewerage Board (KWSB). This was no natural disaster — it was negligence made visible. For years, KWSB has operated on a model of decay: leaking pipelines, haphazard repairs, and politicized water distribution. Karachi needs over 1,200 MGD of water, receives barely half of it, and now with this incident, even that fragile supply is fractured. That a single rupture can paralyze education, displace homes, and compromise health is damning evidence of the board’s inefficiency and the city’s infrastructural fragility.
Yet, amid this collapse, there emerged a quieter, steadier force — the departments within Karachi University. From ground staff draining water to administrators coordinating relief and restoring access, their response was swift, selfless, and sustained. These were not people trained for disaster management, yet they performed better than the public utilities whose job it was to prevent such disasters in the first place.
While KWSB offered deadlines and press statements, KU’s staff offered action. And in that contrast lies the real story. The university could not stop the water, but it prevented the crisis from turning into chaos. That integrity deserves acknowledgment. In Karachi, where water either never arrives or arrives all at once, dignity remains in short supply. But within the submerged halls of KU, it quietly held its ground.
Dr Intikhab Ulfat
Karachi
