Karachi to remain engulfed in misery

With the new year upon us, locals in Pakistan’s commercial hub have little to celebrate or look forward to, as inherent flaws in the local governance system in Karachi indicate that the same old challenges that have plagued the city so far will continue to prevail.

Even though 2023 was a tough year for Pakistan in general, the effects of the political and economic discord were felt the strongest in the metropolis, which some experts have now termed as the “hub of issues”, where burgeoning street crime, sewerage mismanagement, water scarcity, artificial inflation on food items, and endless gas and electricity outages were enough to drown much of the populace in inescapable despondency.

Looking ahead at 2024, experts envisage that the prospects for any improvement in the fundamental problems haunting the city appear quite bleak since the inefficient local government system, with its head buried in the sand, will be unable to tackle the day-today grievances and growing discontentment among the populace, which is no longer willing to buy empty promises in the name of declarations for change.

“2024 will be just as disheartening as 2023. We have now reached a point where citizens of Karachi have become implacable. The uttering of empty promises will no longer ensure legitimacy to any contesting party. Only practical steps towards addressing people’s grievances are the need of the hour,” opined Nawab Qureshi, a senior journalist, who further added that any party hoping to emerge victorious in the February 2024 general election must adopt a goal-oriented, hands-on approach in its electoral manifesto.

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Concurring with Qureshi, Ahmed Raza Tayyab, an expert on social affairs, conveyed his dissatisfaction vis a vis the preceding year while speaking to the Express Tribune. “Throughout 2023, shopkeepers were selling basic food items at exorbitant prices in the hopes of earning huge profit. Until or unless prices are controlled and artificial inflation is monitored by the local government, the financial woes of Karachi’s citizens will remain as before in 2024,” predicted Tayyab.

Another social affairs expert, Dr Nabeel Zubairi alluded to the fact that despite being the largest city in the country and the economic engine of the nation, the quintessential tragedy of the port city revolved around the lack of interest that both the federal and Sindh government exhibited towards finding a doable solution to the basic problems plaguing the city.

“No ruling party till date has been able to act on its plan to solve the fundamental woes of the city’s residents. All of the three major parties, Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and the Muttahida Qaumi MovementPakistan (MQM-P) have remained in power in the centre and the province but clean drinking water and proper sanitation are still a luxury for many in Karachi,” addressed Dr Zubairi, who felt that even though the autonomous local government system had been established, it did not have the powers to take immediate steps in order to promptly address the concerns of citizens in an independent manner.

“Until or unless union committees are empowered and community policing is promoted for ending street crime, the word Karachi will remain synonymous with quandary in 2024 as well,” predicted Dr Zubairi, while speaking to The Express Tribune.