This monsoon has turned out to be too cruel for Karachi. There have been spells after spells of heavy cloudburst, leading to numerous lives lost, a large number of people marooned, properties both private and public damaged, and businesses missed. August, in particular, has been unusually harsh. According to weathermen, downpours in August have shattered 89-year-old records for Karachi. Some 484mm of rain has fallen on the city during the month so far, including 223.5mm in just 12 hours on Thursday alone — the highest amount of rain ever recorded in a single day in the city. The previous 24-hour record was on July 26, 1967, when 211.3mm was recorded at Masroor base.
On Thursday, it rained non-stop nearly the whole day long, leaving the biggest urban centre of the country flooded. The citizens of Karachi literally begged for the sun to come out as 19 precious lives were lost in rain-related incidents. Many were rendered homeless with their dwellings washed away in the rainwater, many trapped in deluged neighbourhoods, and many others stranded on flooded thoroughfares — all waiting for help. But with the whole civic infrastructure having very nearly collapsed — access roads and highways inundated, telephone and internet communication network dysfunctional and power supply system breaking down — the rescue work was not easy either to carry out.
Armed forces thus came out in aid of the civil administration. Pakistan Navy constituted emergency response teams and Pakistan Army set up a Flood Emergency Control Centre for assisting flood victims. Given the inability of rescue vehicles to operate in areas under water, lifeboats were out at places in the city to reach out to people in need of help. The situation was so grave the Sindh Chief Minister had to declare the following day (Friday) a public holiday — in an unprecedented announcement.
That the rain, according to the commerce minister, will also affect the exports shows the extent of the financial damage caused by the rain. Herein lies the lesson from this rare episode of urban flooding: if the authorities don’t care about the lives of the poor citizens of Karachi, they should at least act to avoid the financial loss inflicted on the exchequer due to the city’s dilapidated civic infrastructure.
Published in The Express Tribune, August 29th, 2020.
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