‘Karachi drowns not by rain, but by neglect’

Citizen’s forum calls for supra-coordination authority, warns mismanagement and weak governance pose greater threat than monsoon downpours

By Mukhtar Alam

KARACHI: Warning that Karachiites may once again face chaos and misery during the upcoming monsoon rains, the Karachi Citizen’s Forum (KCF) has called for the creation of an apex coordination body to guide civic and development agencies in managing the city’s fragile infrastructure.

Speaking at a press conference held at the PMA House on August 25, panelists blamed recurring rain-related disasters on mismanagement, governance failures, and lack of accountability. They stressed that the devastation seen after the August 19 downpour was avoidable.

“Karachi does not drown because of rainfall alone,” said one speaker. “It drowns because authorities fail to act in time. Had agencies deployed their teams and cleared drains in advance, the system could have absorbed even heavy volumes of water. Instead, excuses were offered while citizens suffered.”

Justice (retd) Shaiq Usmani remarked that Karachi had been neglected ever since the federal capital shifted to Islamabad. “Despite its demographic, industrial, and economic significance, the city has never received the administrative attention it deserves,” he said, stressing that a supra-coordination forum with qualified professionals and civic stakeholders was now essential.

Year after year, the city suffers flooding without sincere administrative cover. Yet it is not too late—what the city needs is a supra-coordination forum, comprising experts and infrastructure managers, to protect it from recurring natural and manmade disasters. Such a body will only be possible if citizens stand together to demand it.

Urban planning expert Muhammad Tauheed noted that “flawed, impractical mechanisms” keep repeating in civic projects. “Absorbing above 40mm of rain is not beyond the capacity of Karachi’s drains and nullahs—provided they are kept clear. But agencies act only after the damage is done,” he observed.

Senior journalist Mazhar Abbas was more scathing: “Karachi today is the victim of neglect, corrupt practices, and disarranged policies. Civic managers appear to have lost the will to address citizens’ woes on any priority basis.”

The Pakistan Medical Association’s Secretary General, Dr Abdul Ghafoor Shoro, warned of public health risks from stagnant water. “Every heavy rainfall makes Karachi bleed. Beyond urban planning, this is a medical issue—the flooded streets and polluted water are breeding grounds for disease while our health system is already overstretched.”

Other speakers, including KCF convenor Nargis Rahman, co-convenor Dr Qaisar Sajjad, and rights activist Mahnaz Rehman, emphasised that the flooding was not purely natural but also man-made, a result of clogged drains, encroachments, and chronic governance failures.

In a statement, KCF demanded that Karachi’s spending priorities be reoriented toward citizens’ needs instead of cosmetic projects like underpasses and recreational sites. The forum urged urgent repairs to the city’s sanitation and water treatment systems, completion of mass public transport projects, and creation of a statutory authority comprising town planners, city notables, and civil society members.

The group also expressed concern over the loss of lives, damage to property, school and business closures, and the trauma suffered by children, patients, and the elderly stranded for hours in floodwaters “with no help from official quarters.”

IV photos