Karachi voted for PTI. Here’s how it can give back

Despite not being in power in provincial and local governments, PTI can still do a lot for the city

KARACHI: Residents of Karachi were desperate for change as many issues plaguing the city remained largely unaddressed during the tenures of the Pakistan Peoples Party and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz when they were at the helm of affairs in the federal and provincial governments.

Former favourite of Karachiites, the Muttahida Qaumi Movement, kept winning the city's mandate for 30 years but could not resolve the city's basic issues such as water shortage, dilapidated sewerage infrastructure and lawlessness. The party also failed to take effective stance in Parliament on problems faced by the city's residents.

It was the 2018 elections when the people of Karachi channelled their frustration against the tried and tested parties who ruled over them in the federal, provincial and local governments, with a large chunk of their votes going to the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI).

The party, which could only bag one NA seat from the city in the 2013 general elections, has secured, according to unofficial results, 14 out of 21 NA seats from the city. More or less the same is the ratio of the PTI's provincial seats from Karachi.

As the PTI is expected to form the federal government, Karachi's residents have high hopes that the party would resolve their issues. However, there will be constraints for the PTI in addressing Karachi's issues as the provincial government will likely to be formed by the PPP again. After the 18th Amendment, only a few avenues are available for Centre to meddle into the provincial governments' matters. Similarly, the incumbent mayor of the city belongs to the MQM-P. Due to all this, the PTI will either have to coordinate with the PPP and MQM-P to resolve Karachi's issues or find new ways to serve the city.



PTI's options

In order to satisfy its voters, the PTI's federal government has to find avenues where the Centre can easily manoeuvre in Karachi.

Some of the areas in which the PTI can immediately start working include the verification of census results, completion of federal projects such as Green Line Bus Rapid Transit (BRT), approval of water quota for the city from Indus River, completion of water project K-IV, completion of sewerage project S-III, restoration of Karachi Circular Railway (KCR), resolving the  non-provision of identity cards to various ethnicities such as Biharis and Pakhtuns, and resolving the possible eviction of people living in housing schemes for federal employees such as Martin Quarters, Clayton Quarters and FC Area.

The PTI can also announce a development package for Karachi and direct federal institutions, such as Pakistan Railways, Karachi Port Trust, Civil Aviation Authority and others, to construct roads and bridges in the city with their funds.

It is pertinent to note here that in 2003, then-president Gen (retd) Pervez Musharraf, on the request of then-city nazim Naimatullah Khan, directed federal organisations to use their funds for the construction of streets and bridges in the city due to which KPT and other institutions participated in various development projects in the city. During that era, the federal government allocated heavy funds for the city which kept being released till Mustafa Kamal's tenure as nazim. Projects worth Rs50 billion were carried out in the city for eight years due to the federal funds.

Former minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi also announced a Rs25 billion package for Karachi in August 12 last year. As of now, projects worth Rs10 billion have been approved under the package which will be carried out by the Karachi Infrastructure Company Limited (KIDCL), which is a federal agency.

There are some other pending mega projects in the city which have to be equally funded by the federal and provincial governments. They include K-IV project which would supply 260 million gallons of water per day to the city and S-III, a mega sewerage project. Being a stakeholder in these projects, the PTI-led federal government can help speed up the work.



Construction work on the Rs24.6 billion Green Line BRT project is currently under way in the city, which has to be entirely funded by the federal government. The project was initiated in January 2016 and was supposed to be completed by December 2017. However, only Phase-1 of the project has been completed, which includes the track running between Surjani Town and Gurumandir. The second phase of the project will be constructed between Gurumandir and Municipal Park. By completing the project in its tenure, the PTI can share the credit of building the city's first mass transit project.

The revival of KCR has been on the wish list of Karachiites for long. The project is being envisaged since 2005 but has yet to be started. Last year, former prime minister Nawaz Sharif made KCR a part of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor on the request of then-CM Murad Ali Shah. The project was supposed to be initiated on December 25, 2017, and completed within 36 months. However, due to Nawaz's ouster from the premiership and former railway minister Saad Rafique's lack of interest, the project was not even started.

The KCR is a hot cake for the PTI as the Chinese government has agreed to provide a $1.97 billion loan on easy installments and the Sindh government has also prepared the feasibility report for the project. The PTI's federal government has to issue orders and ensure the implementation of the project and it will be a reality.

The PTI government's biggest challenge will be dealing with Karachi's water crisis. One of the major reasons for the defeats of MQM-P and PPP candidates in the city is the inability of the parties to resolve this issue. The demand for water in Karachi is 1,100 million gallons per day (MGD). Of the share of 650 MGD from the Indus River to the city, only 400 MGD is being supplied. The K-IV project was started in 2016. Though it was supposed to be completed in December 2018, extremely slow pace of work on the project has extended its targeted date of completion to somewhere in 2020. If the PTI uses its resources to accelerate work on project, which is expected to resolve Karachi's water crisis, the party may not fear losing next elections.

The S-III project has been hit with delays for the past 10 years. Initially it could not be started due to disagreements between the federal and provincial governments. Finally, it began in 2013 and was to be completed within two years. Work on the project sped up when the Supreme Court took notice and now it may be one of the mega projects that would be completed while the PTI is in the federal government.



Residents of various housing colonies for federal employees such as Martin Quarters and Clayton Quarters, who have been living there for decades, are now facing threats of eviction as the authorities have termed them illegal occupants. Most of these colonies lie in NA-245, from where PTI's Amir Liaquat has won the polls.

The residents are expecting that the PTI would resolve the issue and would not ask them to vacate the houses on humanitarian grounds.

Members of Pakhtun and Bihari communities have been complaining that it has become difficult for them to obtain computerised national identity cards as the National Database and Registration Authority is placing them under expatriate's category. Many of such people reside in Orangi Town and SITE areas and they are hoping that the PTI would not leave them being deprived of their citizenship.

There is a general impression in the city that its population was understated in the census results. Initial census results say that Karachi's population is around 16 million, however, many people believe that there are at least 20 million people living in Karachi. It was decided in the last tenure that 5% census data will be scrutinised to address reservations over census results but the scrutiny was never carried out. The PTI-led federal government can please Karachi residents by having census results verified.