Muhammad Toheed

In Karachi, a city with a population of over 30 million, if a child falls into a sewer and loses his life, it is not just an accident but a slap in the face of the entire urban system. The state of the city before us is that of open manholes, missing covers, abandoned infrastructure and government machinery running away from responsibility, and all of this together shows that our city is suffering from administrative decline.

The recent rains and urban flooding in Pakistan have once again raised the question of how vulnerable our major cities are to natural disasters and environmental stresses. From Karachi to Lahore, Sialkot to Islamabad, the same scene was seen: low-lying areas were submerged, roads resembled rivers and canals, millions of people were stranded, and the economy suffered billions of rupees in losses.

In recent days, Karachiites have witnessed several tragic incidents of fire breaking out in several locations. The biggest of these erupted on September 9, at a garment factory in New Karachi. The fire blazed on for hours, injuring many workers and causing a huge financial loss. Earlier, in late August, at least six people were killed in a fire that broke out after an explosion in a warehouse in a densely populated area near the Taj Medical Complex.