Paddling in Karachi

Considering that significant rainfall in Karachi is a relatively rare event, that weather forecasting has reached a high level of reliability and that predictions of rain are generally accurate — how come a relatively modest downpour produces instant chaos and death in Karachi? And why was the city no better prepared than previous years? It is of course all the fault of everybody other than the agencies that are supposed to ensure that the nalas and drains are ready for their annual swill-through. The principal nalas all overtopped and flooded the streets within the hour, electricity lines dropped as their transformers shorted out with the onset of rain and large parts of the city were without electricity for up to 12 hours at a time. At least eight people died in a variety of rain-related incidents which produced as well an untold number of injured. Two children drowned in the water accumulated in an under-construction underpass. As ever it was the poorest that were hardest hit with the katchi abadis rapidly knee-deep.

The monsoon admittedly was early this year starting on June 28^th, roughly 10 days before the ‘official’ commencement but this is no excuse. The rain abated on Thursday afternoon only to increase again in the evening leaving the city sodden and in parts paralysed. And is this any different from the effects of the onset of the monsoon in any other year? It is not. The same nalas overflowed. The same sewers backed up. The same underpasses flooded. The same electric lines tripped and yes, the casualty figures were not that different either. The responsible agencies all threw up their hands protesting that they had done their bit when it was manifestly obvious that they had not. If the same problems recur year on year then it is a reasonable indicator that somebody somewhere is not doing the job they are paid to do. Accountability? Forget it. Anybody that might be pinned down is quickly in denial mode. Leadership — as in at a mayoral level? The cloak of invisibility is quickly deployed. Rinse, spin, repeat. We expect no change in the next millennia.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 1^st, 2017.

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