There’s no place like home

KARACHI: Privileged residents of Defence Housing Authority (DHA) and Clifton Board Cantonment (CBC) had prepared their own line of action for Cyclone Phet this weekend.

“I have been constantly following the news chanels for updates on the cyclone as well as websites that give accurate information,” said Ayaz Ahmed, a resident of Street 31, Khayaban-i-Shamsheer. “If the threat gets worse and it is going to hit the coast, I will move my family to a hotel near Sharah-i-Faisal for a day or two.” Ahmed had already made reservations because he knew electricity supplies were likely to give way.

The rain did cause some flooding in these neighbourhoods, especially low-lying areas and unplanned settlements but a year’s worth of work on the main trunk drains paid off. Khayaban-i-Bahria approaching Khayaban-i-Ittehad and main roads in DHA Phase II were particularly badly affected.

“I am taking my family to relatives in Gulshan-i-Iqbal for a few days as our house will be flooded,” said Abdul Sami, a resident of Phase II.

Hotels took advantage of the situation and jacked up their room rates. “We have received more than 85 per cent bookings for a time when it is usually just 68 per cent,” informed Noor Sial of the Ramada hotel near the airport. “We received many calls from Defence and Sea View.” They usually charge Rs7,000 a room but this weekend they went up to Rs12,000 after a comparison with other hotels based on the average daily revenue policy.

Confusion

Many residents of DHA and Clifton complained that it was difficult to gauge the actual threat - not just because of the surpluse of sources of information - but also because many of them were inaccurate.

“We are receiving contradictory reports on television chanels and we don’t know who to believe and who not to,” said Amir, a desperate resident of Chapal Apartments in Clifton Block II. “When I go through weather websites, I get a totally different picture. There is a disagreement in my family - some people want to leave and others say that the media is just creating a big fuss.”

Orders for kachoris

Nisar looks around the destruction caused by the heavy downpour. “No one came for help,” he says. Nisar lives in a poor locality near Kala Pul with his family where his house got flooded immediately.

The potential devastation of Cyclone Phet was highlighted in the print and broadcasting media for days before the rains lashed Karachi on Saturday and continued throughout Sunday. The government promised relief for affected people, but as Nisar said, no one arrived.

According to the Pakistan Meteorological Department, so far 150 millimetres of rain were recorded in Karachi and its suburbs. “We could not sleep all night,” says one of Nisar’s sisters, describing how the family later ran out of food.

Nisar’s predicament is similar to that of millions of Karachiites who are in need of the government’s attention. The Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) had announced a relief package of Rs2.5 million and the Sindh government had allocated funds for affected areas, but the actual relief process has not begun yet.

Karachi’s street businesses were majorly affected. Since Saturday afternoon, street vendors and shop owners started seeing the downward trend in the number of buyers. Muhammad Bilal, a street vendor who sets his cart every day near the Sindh Assembly’s Kabootar Chowrangi, says no one brought fruits from him.

However, it is good news for the samosa and kachori sellers. “As soon as it starts drizzling, people come rushing for spicy snacks,” one of the sellers says. But he also gets worried as his stall is temporary. Heavy rainfall and storm winds mean no business.

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