Rain trauma

The monsoon has unleashed havoc across the country – from Balochistan to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to Sindh. With more than 60 dead in rain-related havoc in Balochistan and photos of parts of KP completely flooded, Karachi and the rest of Sindh have also seen at least 26 people losing their lives to rain chaos incidents on the second day of Eid. Monsoon showers have been battering Karachi and other parts of the province for the past many days, and the Sindh Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) has issued warnings for more rainfall. The largest loss of life was reported from Karachi and Thatta where 14 and nine people died respectively. The Sindh government responded by imposing a rain emergency in Karachi as large parts of the city submerged under knee-deep waters. From overflowing drains in Korangi and Orangi to offices on I I Chundrigar Road and houses in DHA, Gulshan, and Shah Faisal Colony, most of the city was presenting a devastated look. To top it all, there were prolonged power outages lasting in some areas for as long as 36 hours.

The main problem appears to be the fact that in the past 50 years or so most of the natural nullahs (drains) have disappeared under encroachments and new developments that have blocked the passageways for rain water. The existing drains are simply inadequate to carry rainwater when it pours for hours or even days. Karachi’s drainage system is a huge mess and its solid waste is not dumped into the assigned landfill sites but instead thrown anywhere and everywhere. With a drainage system that has not been properly upgraded and managed and a population that has increased manifold, rainwater turning into floods is a catastrophe that happens every single time there is unusually high level of rainfall in the city. While the poor people residing alongside nullahs have been forcefully evicted and left to their devices, those living in huge mansions or those who have built high-rise buildings that are illegal continue to thrive. A city of lights turns into a flood zone thanks to the mismanagement of successive governments and willful ignorance on their part – not to mention the commercial and financial gains involved. The city administration has tried to clear the roads – but unless broad and deep drains are dug and paved along all major arteries of the city, Karachi will keep submerging. This is not rocket science, this is basic urban management and town planning. Cosmetic steps and photo ops may give a sense of quick response, but they have failed to solve the problem for the past many years.

The monsoon is in full swing and, from Gilgit to Gwadar, hardly any part of Pakistan is unaffected. Since the season lasts through August, governments from the federal to the local levels must remain in a high state of alert. It is true that high tide slows down the drainage into the sea but there are many cities in the world that have built huge artificial reservoirs to store rainwater. Again this is not unachievable if the government allocates sufficient funds for this purpose. More rains with thundershowers and winds are expected upcountry too. Since the rainwater ultimately reaches lower riparian areas, Balochistan and Sindh need much more attention that they receive right now. Apart from disaster management, uninterrupted power supply must be ensured as outages add to the miseries of people already under the spell of natural calamities which should not be compounded by human failures. As for Karachi, for too long has it been treated like a city that has been abandoned by all. All we see is blame-game instead of serious efforts at fixing the city. Once the deluge is over, perhaps there is a need for a high-level roundtable that includes not just political stakeholders but also urban planning experts and researchers.