‘Civic bodies must collaborate to address city’s water, sanitation, garbage issues’

Every rainfall that leads to urban flooding is termed a ‘cloudburst’ by authorities, said urban planner Mohammad Touheed on Saturday.

The phenomenon occurs when 100 millimetres of rainfall falls in an area within less than an hour, which did not happen in any of the recent urban flooding events in Karachi.

Touheed stressed that the average annual rainfall in Karachi has always remained around 295 millimeters. “It is actually the fault of the government for not building a better infrastructure,” he said.

He was speaking at a seminar titled ‘Saving Karachi from the Looming Perils of Climate Change’, which was arranged by the Karachi Citizen Forum at the Pakistan Medical Association House.

He said the Karachi Water Sewerage Corporation (KWSC), instead of enhancing its infrastructure with the growing population, diverted its sewerage lines to the city’s rain drains. Speaking on the city’s Malir River, he said that which once used to flow with clean water now only flows with sewerage water.

He said that in 2016, the Sindh government took away the function of solid waste disposal from the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) and constituted a Sindh Solid Waste Management Board (SSWMB). Contracts for disposing of garbage in the city were given to Chinese contractors.

He said there’s still a garbage backlog in the city despite Chinese contractors disposing of garbage. He said that while people are also not aware of where to dispose of their trash, there are also no dedicated garbage collection points in the city. “This is an institutional failure,” he said.

He said the KMC, KWSC, and SSWMB must collaborate to address water, sanitation, and garbage issues. He emphasized that solutions to such problems, especially in the context of climate change, cannot be achieved in isolation.

Touheed said that according to the Pakistan Bureaucratic Statistics, the population of Karachi is around 20 million, as per the census data, but data from other agencies suggests that the city’s population is close to 30 million. He stressed that the city’s longstanding issues could not be resolved without a proper population count and developing a master plan.

He said that there were seven master plans for Karachi, of which five were made after 1947 independence, and “none were implemented properly.” He stressed that population is the main part of planning a city.

June was the hottest month on record, according to heatwave expert Mahmood Alam. He highlighted that many people in Karachi died from heatwaves, but their death certificates did not specify heatwaves as the cause of death. He believed that the government downplays heatwave-related deaths in Karachi.

He said some 500,000 people died due to heatwaves between 2000 and 2019 and in the recent hot weather, around 2,000 to 2,500 people died in Karachi but those deaths were not reported.

Citing global bodies, he said the average annual increase in temperature in the world was 1.1 degrees Celsius but the same in Pakistan was around 1.4 to 1.6 and Karachi was the most-affected area.

Masood Lohar, an urban scientist, added to these concerns by warning of the broader environmental risks Karachi faces. He said that the city is at risk of an earthquake and that 80 percent of its marine life has already been lost.

He said Karachi had become a jungle of concrete and its air quality had deteriorated. There were 700,000 trees in the city, he said and warned that many areas of DHA would sink in case of heavy rains.

He spoke on the importance of Karachi’s 600,000 mangroves, which are crucial in the fight against climate change as they capture and store carbon, protect the coastline from natural disasters, and provide a habitat for marine life. However, he also pointed out that these vital ecosystems are under serious threat, with significant areas of mangroves being cleared for housing schemes, commercial projects, and industrial developments. Lohar suggested that 2,000 urban forests could be established in the city to combat these environmental challenges.

Nargis Rehman, convener of the Karachi Citizens’ Foundation, expressed grave concerns about the city’s deteriorating condition, describing Karachi as “broken down and exhausted,” and ill-prepared to face the increasing disasters brought on by climate change. She said that despite Karachi’s dire state, it remains one of the lowest-ranked cities globally, recently listed as the fifth most unlivable city and one of the most air-polluted and tourist-risky cities in the world.

Rehman emphasized that while these rankings might be contested, they reflect the harsh realities experienced by the city’s residents and the insights of environmental experts. Despite Pakistan’s active participation in international climate change agreements, she noted that little has been done to address Karachi’s pressing issues. The city remains without a master plan and is governed by multiple non-coordinating land-owning authorities. The absence of a mass public transportation system further exacerbates air pollution, while the city’s infrastructure, sanitation system, and renewable energy investments continue to collapse.

One of the most pressing issues raised by Rehman is the ongoing destruction of Karachi’s mangrove forests. These ecosystems, which play a crucial role in mitigating climate change and protecting the city from natural disasters, are being destroyed at an alarming rate. Rehman also noted that more than half of Karachi’s trash and untreated sewage water flows directly into coastal waters, further destroying the natural ecosystem, including precious mangroves and marine life. She drew parallels between the destruction of these mangroves and the devastation of Malir’s orchards for infrastructure development.

The city’s tree cover has also drastically decreased, from 7% in 2007 to a likely 3% today. Rehman criticized the lack of accurate data on Karachi’s tree population and called for more coordinated efforts in tree planting. She urged the mayor of Karachi, who also heads the KWSC and the SSWMB, to take better control of the city’s sanitation and waste disposal systems.

Additionally, Rehman warned of the severe air pollution plaguing Karachi, caused by automobile emissions, industrial pollution, and the open burning of garbage. She called for immediate action to repair the city’s sanitation system, clean up the trash, and restore the long-neglected water treatment plants.

Without urgent intervention, the experts warned, Karachi’s environmental and waste management crisis will only worsen, leaving the city increasingly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change and other environmental disasters.

Renewable energy expert Arshad Junejo said scientists were still not aware of the reasons behind sudden change in climate and meteorological sciences changed after every 10 years.

Climate finance expert Irfan Pardesi lamented bad governance in the city.

Dr Qaiser Sajjad said oxygen levels in Karachi were not satisfactory and air pollution was destroying the city. He said only 60 per cent of the waste generated in the city was lifted and the remaining 40 per cent was burnt causing pollution.

He added that generators and industries were also adding to pollution causing dangerous diseases.