Riding out the storm

At the time of writing this editorial, Phet, a category 1 tropical cyclone, was on course to make landfall by Sunday night. One weather website estimated that the brunt of the storm would be borne by the coastal communities southeast of Karachi. However, given the size of the whole system, residents of the city had a sample of what was in store for them with up to five inches of rain dumped in some parts. Despite the fact that the media had been following Phet for the past many days and had been tracking its progress from Oman to the coastal areas of Pakistan and onto Karachi in great detail, it seems that much of the preparations that the provincial and city authorities had claimed to be in place were found wanting. We are of course referring to the drainage system which yet again buckled in many parts of the city with several feet of standing water on many major thoroughfares and arterial roads. Parts of Sharea Faisal, which connect the city with the international airport, as well as major chunks of I I Chundrigar Road in the main business district resembled lakes.

While the major storm had yet to come, several deaths had already been reported – most of them due to electrocution. It is tragic that every monsoon season we see dozens of people losing their lives for something that is entirely avoidable. As for KESC, its preparation was non-existent and it seems that despite its privatization the utility has not invested in improving its shoddy distribution network, which collapses every time it rains. Many parts of the city were still without power 15 hours after Sunday morning’s rain (which fell prior to the cyclone making landfall). One positive thing was closure of Karachi’s main Seaview beach and how the police played their part in enforcing the closure – at risk to their own safety The situation for Karachi and other parts of coastal Sindh and Balochistan will become clearer on Monday by which time Phet will have made landfall.

Published in the Express Tribune, June 7^th, 2010.