Daily Times

Heavy monsoons, electricity breakdowns, pandemics and solid waste management all pose a grave risk to Karachi’s prospects as a major urban centre of the region. A city, once known as the city of lights, is lately being projected as a city of garbage heaps fraught with poor urban governance and service delivery. Governance failure was unravelled recently at various levels such as health, electricity provision, mass flooding, etc. Let’s briefly try to analyse what damages has the city been accruing in the recent past and the possible steps needed to be taken to avert the situation in future.

During the monsoon season this year, heavy rains disrupted daily life in the city and left many thoroughfares flooded. The supply of electricity to key localities left many people at the mercy of flooded roads and electric power cuts. More than 350 feeders of the Karachi Electric Supply Corporation tripped; affecting several areas.

The heavy rainfall also exposed the precautionary measures of the authorities at the National Stadium Karachi as the first one-day international between Pakistan and Sri Lanka was abandoned. As reported by the Chief Meteorologist, around 130mm of rain was recorded in Karachi during the past weeks. At least 35 people were electrocuted to death in the city during the first two spells in July and August. The incidents drew a massive outrage from the citizens, who demanded accountability of the power distribution company over its poor management despite heavily charging the people. Secondly, at least 14 people, all brought from the interior areas of the province to hospitals in Karachi, have died of rabies this year. Karachi alone reports around 150 cases of dog bites.

Well-governed cities with the universal provision of infrastructure and public services have a strong base for building resilience to climate change

Around 5,000 people die every year in Pakistan because of rabies. The World Health Organisation’s (WHO’s) one-health approach recommends elimination of rabies universally by 2030 with the help of mass dog vaccination and controlling the population through birth control measures. The infectious viral disease has emerged as a major health challenge in the past few years in Sindh reportedly due to the acute shortage of anti-rabies vaccine and worsening sanitary conditions; contributing to the increase in the stray dog population. However, according to local experts and physicians, the tragedy is 100 per cent preventable.

Karachi, one of the world’s fastest-growing megacities with an estimated 17 million people, ranks second-lowest in South Asia and sixth-lowest in the world on the Economist Intelligence Unit’s 2015 livability index. Better health outcomes in urban areas are explained by improved access to private health care in cities. But except for immunisation, the utilisation of basic public health services is considerably low in urban areas.

Poor health outcomes are also a result of the pollution caused by rapid urbanisation. According to the WHO, Karachi is the most air polluted city in Pakistan with air twice as polluted as that of Beijing. The level of pollution in Punjab’s major cities, including Lahore, is also three to four times higher than that determined safe by the UN.

The challenge of global warming has also intensified in cities. A rise in concrete structures across the urban landscape is increasing temperatures within cities. In 2015, an unanticipated heatwave in Karachi led to almost 1,500 deaths.

It is inevitable to escape the impact of climate change. However, better management of the crisis can ease the pressure off the citizens and allow people to go about their lives without hefty damage to life and property. Rainwater storage facilities, like storage tanks, underground storage pipes, detention ponds and infiltration tanks, could be instituted for rain-water harvesting for households and community usage. Breakdowns happen all around the world. We need institutions to manage them. We do have them, but they need to be accountable and functional. Also, there is a need for capacity-building of urban planners, engineers and environmentalists to manage the rising governance challenges due to climate change. Protecting vulnerable segments of the society from the effects of climate change should also be taken into account as poor households may find it hard to protect themselves from any untoward incident. Local and municipal institutions must work alongside with clear delegation of responsibility and not compete for funds and power. Using updated technology to improve service delivery is also imperative for cost and time efficiency. In addition to affecting the daily livelihood of people, many people die as a result of drowning, electrocution, and spread of viral illnesses as well.

Incorporating rainwater harvesting units in houses would considerably lessen the strain on the drainage network. The cost of urban flooding has been identified as a range of effects on individuals and communities in various studies “such as loss of hourly wages for those unable to reach their workplaces; hours lost in traffic challenges; disruptions in local, regional, and national supply chains; or school closings with resultant impact on parents.”

Additionally, public-private collaboration is a way for cities to identify where cooperation can address problems that neither municipalities nor the private sector can solve alone. The potential for technology to increase the efficiency such as the use of big data, to revolutionise aspects of city management, from keeping traffic flowing to reducing electricity outages, tackling crime and preparedness for emergencies. Developing countries have the opportunity to leapfrog by avoiding the mistakes made by more advanced economies and applying the best practices from the development of smart city infrastructure. The rapid rise of pandemics in low-income countries could jeopardise poverty reduction and limit inclusive outcomes from growth.

With adequate land-use planning and in coordination with the private sector, cities can develop infrastructure in more sustainable, low-carbon ways but this requires governance, technical, financial and institutional capacities that are often inadequate in developing contexts. Leadership within local governments is at the heart of both urban mitigation and adaptation to climate change. Well-governed cities with the universal provision of infrastructure and public services have a strong base for building resilience to climate change if processes of planning, design and allocation of human capital and material resources are responsive to emerging climate risks.

Karachi in the past has also been marred with violent conflict, but the situation has ameliorated manifolds and it’s time for the political leadership to now improve the governance and service delivery. PPP governments in the past made landmark legislation, especially on the federal level but for the past 15 years, it has displayed poor governance in the province with the legacy of corruption and mismanagement. With a young and dynamic CM, one hopes for a considerable transformation. However, there is no excuse for poor performance on account of solid waste management, flooding and pandemics.

PPP needs to buckle up if Bilawal Bhutto Zardari is interested in a serious chance of rebranding PPP into a mainstream national party and restoring PPP’s support in the Sindh province. A recent loss in PS II Larkana by-election should be a wake-up call for mustering up efforts to restore people’s confidence in the ability to govern and improve public services. It is pivotal for PPP to improve governance as it will reflect poorly on its leadership in the upcoming election if they do not walk the talk on its leader’s ability to deliver on governance and alleviating conditions of the masses.

The writer is a freelance writer and an Economic Analyst based in Lahore