By: Ayyan Shaikh
The former capital of Pakistan has been drowning for the past few weeks. Literally. The city has been hit by the heaviest rainfall since 1931, submerging the densely populated city into various problems. The heavy monsoon rainfalls have unleashed floods and inundated almost the whole of the city. This has resulted in around 41 deaths and many to be trapped within their places. Transportation is proving to be very difficult as navigating automobiles through inches and inches of water is a nightmare. The country’s National Disaster Management Agency has reported that the number of people trapped due to waterlogging in low-lying slums has been increasing as rainfall refuses to crease. Heavy rainfall has also deprived citizens of electricity and mobile connections.
However, who is responsible for all this?
Many are blaming the authorities for not taking proper measures before the start of the monsoon seasons which has resulted in such a disastrous situation. Being the country’s financial hub, you would expect the city to have enough infrastructure facilities to sustain itself during heavy rains, however, it is no surprise that there was none.
Karachi has continuously been neglected due to political disparities between Pakistan People’s Party(PPP) and Muttahida Qaumi Movement(MQM). Now that it is time to own up to their mistakes and do something to relieve the city of its dire situation, both political parties have been too busy playing the blame game. Instead of helping the citizens and taking proper measures to bring the situation under control, parties have been involved in retorting back to their political opposition and defending their names, which clearly shows where their actual interests lie. Their lack of interest is prominent by the fact that The MET office had forecasted heavy rains two months ago, but the authorities did nothing to prepare for it. Due to the incompetence of authorities, the military was called in and rescuers were using boats from the Pakistani navy to reach victims.
Now it is our duty to do something about this situation. You can donate here:
(Image from here.)
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