Karachi, a port city situation on the shores of the Arabian Sea, was once famous for its pleasant weather and healthy atmosphere. Vegetation in the city could be found in abundance in areas like Malir, where lush farmland produced healthy crops, and green cover breathed life into the city.
Malir was once known as the fruit and vegetable basket of Karachi, but its reputation is slowly getting snuffed out by illegal sand and gravel mining, the construction of housing schemes on agricultural lands, and the disposal of human and animal waste from nearby localities and cattle pens. Farmers are watching their fertile land turn barren, losing their livelihoods to unregulated industries that are ruining environments in the area.
“The taste of water and vegetables grown in Malir was God gifted but we destroyed it,” said seventy-year-old Muhammad Siddique, a settler and landowner in Memon Goth, a neighborhood in Malir district. He said sand and gravel mining is decreasing ground water supplies and destroying crops all around him, leaving residents of Malir with no option but to purchase vegetables and fruits from the market.
Siddique said fruits like guavas, which were famous if grown in Malir, can no longer survive, adding that guavas being sold in markets that are advertised as being from the area are from other places. Farmers in the area used to be able to access water by digging shallow wells but now they can’t access such water without boring down 150 feet, he said. “How can we grow [a] variety of vegetables and fruits in the absence of ground water?”
The destruction of agricultural land in Malir is not only hurting farmers but contributing to a larger problem of food insecurity across Pakistan, fueled by high food and fuel prices, drought, and livestock diseases. According to a 2022 Global Report on Food Crises from The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, an initiative for improving food insecurity, 4.66 million people in Pakistan faced acute insecurity during the period between October 2021 and April 2022.
Pakistan’s food insecurity has only worsened over the years due to extreme weather, economic fluctuations and other factors exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic. Inflation and shrinking incomes have left many Pakistanis unable to afford their next meal. Even some of those who aren’t facing acute food insecurity are undernourished because they can’t afford the cost of more nutritious meals.
Meanwhile, space for farming in Pakistan continues to shrink because of pollution and overdevelopment, which is making professions in agriculture far less lucrative. Pakistan has always been an agriculture economy but urban sprawl is consistently turning farmland into residential and commercial areas. In those areas, potential pollutants multiply.
Around Malir,. Nevertheless, the effects of this pollution on the agricultural environment in the area are felt.
In a field under the scorching sun, Zulekha Bibi picks eggplant, for which she earns Rs 150 per day. “Industrial waste and sand mining destroyed crops and our livelihood,” Bibi said. “[Before] we earned Rs 200 to 300 per day but [during] this period of inflation, we are [just] trying to provide a meal at least one in 24 hours for our children.” Other women and children working in the field with Bibi share similar struggles. They say they’re unable to earn money by doing other types of work because they’ve only ever worked in agriculture.
Experts say the destruction of Malir’s agricultural lands can be attributed to a variety of factors beyond sand and gravel mining. In some cases, they say locals have also played a role in the degradation. Growers often sell off their land for large sums, which incentivizes developers to look for land in agricultural areas, said Rafiul Haq, a Karachi- based Senior Ecologist and Member of the IUCN-Commission on Ecosystem Management.
Farms used to be spread over more than 10 acres and each farm would have its own well, Haq said. But as farmers sold their land, the number of wells increased to cater to the water needs of the growing population in the area. “[A] ban on construction is not the solution of the problem,” he said. “The authorities must make sure that under-construction buildings in Malir should not exceed their limits [for mandatory green space].”
Rather than growing only trees, he said people in the area should grow a variety of herbs, shrubs and trees to increase the biodiversity in the area and provide oxygen. With very little green cover remaining in Karachi, residents have no protection from the harsh sun and scalding heat, increasing steadily with climate change.
Government departments are working on damage control to reduce the threat of food insecurity and help the local community maintain its livelihood. The Sindh Environmental Protection Agency (SEPA) encourages local farmers to change the kinds of crops they are growing to adapt to the changes in groundwater supply.
“For the improvement of food chain and biodiversity, adaptation of environment friendly techniques [are the] need of the hour,” a SEPA official told The Express Tribune. “Crops which need less water should be grown in Malir because it would be more feasible due to lower underground water level[s] in the areas. It ultimately helps to improve food chain and eco system overall.”
SEPA said it has drafted a climate change policy that aims to restore the environment in Malir. Once approved, SEPA will advise and carry out consultations with other departments to figure out how to mitigate the damages that have already been done to the ecosystems in this area.
Meanwhile, aggressive planting in Malir could provide some respite to the densely populated city as heat waves, flooding and climate change will present risks for years to come.
Asifa Idrees is a freelance writer. All information and facts provided are the sole responsibility of the writer. Asifa tweets at @asifaidris.