Karachi in the dumps

Without governance reform, even billions won’t rescue Karachi from chronic dysfunction

Karachi has never suffered from a shortage of plans. What it has endured, decade after decade, is a crippling absence of follow-through. Successive governments announce grand "transformation" roadmaps with great fanfare, only for the city to sink deeper into chaos once the press conferences fade. As yet another Karachi Transformation Plan is approved, the question that demands an honest answer is not what is being planned, but why implementation has consistently failed.

The Sindh Chief Minister's approval of a new Karachi Transformation Plan — envisaging a partnership with the FWO and backed by a one-time grant of Rs84.8 billion for 523 development schemes — is, on paper, ambitious. Additional allocations under the Federal PSDP and the identification of six priority infrastructure projects worth Rs10.72 billion suggest urgency.

Roads from M-9 to Malir, flyovers at Shahrah-e-Faisal and Sohrab Goth, rehabilitation of arteries leading to Hawkes Bay — all these are undeniably critical. No one disputes that Karachi desperately needs them. But Karachi's crisis is structural. Governance in Karachi is fragmented, and accountability is virtually absent. Projects move between provincial departments and other stakeholders, creating a perfect alibi for delay. Even now, implementation is to be split among KMC, KDA, Karachi Mega Schemes and multiple city departments — a familiar recipe for overlap and buck-passing.

The city cannot be run on plans that only look good on paper. It needs ruthless prioritisation and an end to the culture where accountability and transparency are absent. The government must finally pull its socks up. Not with another glossy blueprint, but with sustained, visible delivery. If this plan, too, dissolves into delay and dilution, Karachi will edge closer to a point where even billions will not be enough to save it. The city has been patient long enough. What it needs now is performance.