Karachi: deplorable transport system
Back in the days Karachi circular railway was considered to be among the most modern transport systems in the world. At its peak, 104 trains ran on a daily basis, carrying approximately 6 million passengers a year. Established in the year 1969, KCR was a great success; until of course during the 1990s, when corruption took precedence. In just a couple of years the institution had incurred major losses and in 1999 operations had to be discontinued.
Today, the public transport of Karachi has been identified as the worst in the world by internationally acclaimed magazine Bloomberg, whose reports indicate rather clearly that “ongoing corruption, mismanagement, and clashes of interest” are all contributing factors. Such reports include two factors on the basis of which a judgement is made: the first is the transport infrastructure, like roads, bridges, etc. and the other is the mode of public transport which includes buses, rickshaws, etc. Regrettably, the condition of both is so atrocious that even a common citizen can analyse with a certain accuracy of how deplorable the transport system of the city is. The streets remain dilapidated, inundated with sewage water, carpeted with garbage and replete with craters. The joints of many longstanding bridges and underpasses have become worn out, which is a major safety concern. In many major streets, the street lamps fail to work at night. Buses and rickshaws remain in a shambles. Their engines overburn petrol due to the lack of maintenance, and in turn the whole vehicle turn in a carbon-spitting machine, drastically affecting the environment and the people. Furthermore, the system hasn’t been designed. A bridge here and an underpass there has been the go-to strategy for authorities, which hasn’t been of much benefit to the flow of traffic. The roads still get clogged for hours on end, and reaching back home from work becomes are arduous task in itself.
These are just some of the multiple issues that have yet to be acknowledged by authorities. It goes without saying that the transport system is the backbone of any city. It is about time that authorities worked to rebuild and redesign the transport system of Karachi piece by piece.
Published in The Express Tribune, November 9th, 2020.
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