Another building

Four multi-storey buildings have collapsed in Karachi this year. Even officials admit that several other such buildings are dangerous to live in. On Thursday, a four-storey building crashed to the ground in Korangi. According to government officials, it was an unauthorised construction. According to officials and building residents, after the recent rains, rainwater had accumulated close to the building that weakened its foundations, and as a result, it crashed. Officials say they had declared the building dangerous and asked the residents to shift to safe places. An adolescent boy was killed and many got trapped in the rubble.

This was the fourth building collapse this year in the city in a series of such tragic happenings that began with the collapse of a multi-storey building in Rizvia Society. Twenty-seven people were killed in that incident. After this, another multi-storey building collapsed in the congested Khadda area of Lyari. In most such cases, the relevant officials and departments claimed that buildings were illegally constructed. The provincial government had announced that an inquiry had been ordered into the building collapse in Rizvia society. Nothing beyond that is known.

After the latest incident of building collapse, an action replay of official efficiency and sympathy has been witnessed. However, the tragedy needs to be seen in the overall context of the crumbling civic infrastructure and near-total absence of civic services in Karachi. One does need to be a Mensa to understand that the structure in Korangi crashed after standing rain and gutter water seeped into its foundations for long. The fact that passages leading to the building are inundated with sewage strengthens this belief. Perhaps, such tragedies are happening due to carelessness. Carelessness is inexcusable and merits sequence which should be in action, not in mere platitudes. Probably, lack of action is unconscious and automatic.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 12^th, 2020.

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