Till a couple of decades ago, Karachi was called Pakistan’s ‘jewel in the crown.’ No longer. The world’s megacity, with a population of 40 million, is experiencing multiple man-made disasters ranging from a serious water crisis to erosion of the city’s infrastructure, rampant crime, and mushrooming illegal settlements. There are countless issues faced by the people of Karachi, such as power shortages, waste disposal, and a pathetic educational system.
Karachi was the federal capital of Pakistan from August 1947 till 1960, until the time the military regime of President General Ayub Khan, keeping in mind its own interests, made the decision to move the capital to Rawalpindi and then to the newly built city of Islamabad.
Karachi was not only the federal capital but also the industrial, commercial, and business hub of the new state of Pakistan and reflected multicultural characteristics as people from different parts of the country settled in Karachi because it provided them employment opportunities despite ethnic and linguistic variations. As Pakistan’s only port city of then West Pakistan, Karachi also emerged as the country’s international hub.
But the erosion and decline of Karachi did not begin when the capital was shifted to Rawalpindi, the garrison city, and then to Islamabad. Rather, its story of neglect and back-to-back disasters began when the first government of the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) was installed in December 1971. The urban-rural divide, quota system, language riots, and discrimination against the Urdu-speaking segment of the population of Sindh in employment and education deepened the city’s sense of deprivation.
Particularly, the last 18 years of the PPP-led Sindh government have deepened Karachi’s water, infrastructure, electricity, and waste disposal issues. Illegal settlements, with the connivance of those wielding power, and rising crime have further augmented Karachi’s predicament.
It would, however, be unfair to blame merely the PPP for Karachi’s endless predicament. MQM and other political parties, as well as the military regimes, should also be held responsible for what Pakistan’s and the world’s megacity has become today.
Karachi, which contributes 60% of federal and 80% of provincial revenue, is receiving step-motherly treatment from both Islamabad and the Sindh government. If trillions of rupees in grants that the PPP government of Sindh received from Islamabad since 2008 failed to complete the K-4 Karachi bulk water supply project, the Red Line bus project, the modernisation of infrastructure, waste disposal projects, and so forth, it indicates rampant corruption, inefficiency, and nepotism.
The story of Karachi’s multiple disasters does not end with the failure of mega projects funded by the federal government and international agencies, particularly the Asian Development Bank. Recently, protests and demonstrations at the University of Karachi, Pakistan’s largest centre of learning, are a case in point.
Karachi’s multiple man-made disasters in the last five decades will further augment and completely ruin Pakistan’s ‘jewel in the crown’
Around 50,000 students of the University of Karachi are suffering because of more than 100 days of protest launched by teachers, officers, and employees over the non-payment of house rent, evening classes remuneration, and non-payment of dues of retired teachers. Like many other state-owned universities in Pakistan, the University of Karachi is also facing a huge financial crisis, to the extent that its debt is now more than 1.5 billion rupees.
But neither the PPP nor the MQM raised their voice in support of the demands of those protesting at the University of Karachi. The apathy and indifference of the PPP government and the MQM, which is a coalition partner of the PML(N) and holds the federal education ministry, is a stark reminder that those wielding influence at the provincial and federal levels are least interested in resolving issues faced by Pakistan’s biggest university. Neither in the Sindh Assembly nor in the National Assembly or Senate is there any move to debate the crisis at the University of Karachi.
There is no dearth of resources in Karachi, but what is lacking is political will and determination on the part of those in power to address issues which tend to deepen the agony and plight of 40 million people of Pakistan’s megacity. It also reflects the failure of the Sindh Assembly, National Assembly, and Senate to address Karachi’s multiple issues, which have led to man-made disasters.
Only Jamaat-e-Islami has raised its voice against the injustices done to the people of Karachi, regularly organising protest marches and demonstrations against depriving people of Karachi of a regular water supply and poor infrastructure.
What is the solution to deal with Karachi’s multiple man-made disasters? How has the city of lights, once termed a ‘jewel in the crown’ of Pakistan, now experienced erosion and decline? It is rightly observed by those concerned about the present and future of Karachi that neither the Sindh government nor the federal government possesses any commitment, will, or determination to pull 40 million people of Karachi out of their endless predicament.
However, one can examine and analyse the deteriorating case of Karachi from three standpoints. First, Karachi is facing ‘mafias’ who are receiving patronage from powerful people.
For instance, citizens of Karachi are paying more than 30 billion rupees every year to get water from the tanker mafia. The gap in supply and demand of water in Karachi is more than 50%.
Karachi’s water demand per day is 900 million gallons, but it is receiving only 450 million gallons. The K-4 bulk water supply project, which was supposed to provide Karachi with 350 million gallons of water a day, has been in limbo for the last two decades.
Its original cost, which was 15 billion rupees in 2005, has escalated to 150 billion rupees in 2026. As a result, the tanker mafia is paid by the citizens of Karachi more than 30 billion rupees every year to obtain water. Along with the tanker mafia, there is the land mafia, electricity mafia, and construction mafia, which have made billions of rupees from ill-completed Red Line and other road projects.
The failure to revive the circular railway in Karachi is another piece of evidence of corruption and inefficiency of the Sindh government. Second, there is a lack of ownership as far as Karachi is concerned.
Neither the provincial nor the federal government owns Karachi. As far as the city government is concerned, it is facing a legitimacy crisis because the opposition, since the beginning, has refused to recognise the PPP-led city government due to allegations of electoral manipulation.
Karachi, which raises 60% of federal and 80% of provincial revenue, is in dire straits because those responsible for meeting the requirements of the megacity are only interested in making money and ensuring their ‘comfort zones.’
Third, the only viable solution to deal with Karachi’s predicament is to declare it a separate entity from the provincial government and run it by elected representatives having adequate expertise, planning, vision, and integrity to transform it into a city-state.
Issues about the transformation of Karachi into a city-state within the province can be sorted out, but the longer the issues of Karachi are delayed, the more the city will plunge into a perpetual state of crisis, chaos, and disorder. A city-state of Karachi would be given provincial status, with adequate resources to run its affairs without dependence on provincial and federal governments.
It is high time that those who matter decide to declare Karachi a city-state with autonomous characteristics, independent of provincial and federal control. Otherwise, Karachi will continue to face multiple man-made disasters, which will be detrimental to the interests of Pakistan. Karachi’s multiple man-made disasters in the last five decades will further augment and completely ruin Pakistan’s ‘jewel in the crown.’