“Would that I come again to see what Karachi will be in a hundred years… a magnificent city.”
Sir Charles Napier
Karachi has come a long way from Napier’s vision – the uprooted obelisk at Napier Mole, now Baradari Park, may not be traceable, but the city is. From a growing port town of 15000 people, Karachi is home to almost 30 million people today. Bustling, expanding, growing – the city is now proud to own a skyline, massive road structure, and is undoubtedly the pulse of Pakistan’s economy.
What Napier saw was opportunity in geography. The flowing Indus and its deltas, deep seaports, a strategic location most suitable to be the transit city nestled between the Middle East, Russia, and the Far East, with ports and borders connecting to the world beyond.
Add the moon and the stars, and Karachi becomes so much more than what Napier could have dreamt.
Karachi is the beating heart of commerce, and the energy is undoubtedly driven by the massive network of power grids that now occupy prominent posts like sentinels in charge. Tariq Road, Saddar, Johar, Nazimabad, Zamzama, and many heavy commercial areas depend entirely on reliable power. Karachi houses over 50% of the country’s large-scale manufacturing, contributing 30-40% of the national GDP. Generating around 70% of Pakistan’s revenue, the city hosts major industrial zones like SITE, Korangi, Landhi, and Port Qasim. Its diverse industries span textiles, steel, cement, automotive, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, food processing, banking, IT, and trade, making it the backbone of the nation’s economy. What tourists see as merely attractive storefronts or factories at work, we recognise as the culmination of significant improvements in power infrastructure. The gradual implementation of smart grids and billing reforms has helped stabilise the power supply.
Karachi, with all its brazen cosmopolitan outlook, is still evolving. Its resilience can be made into a lesson for challenged cities, and its beauty a framed canvas. Karachi speaks for the vitality and persistence of a populace that has weathered decades of challenges while maintaining its warmth and vibrancy.
The dunking orange sun in the Arabian Sea is a sight to behold. Every evening without fail, I would go and sit on the beach to see that glowing ball bid adieu for a few hours. For Karachi, this daily loss of its stellar body was neither sad nor upsetting – instead, it was the initiation of opening its most iconic hours of lighting up. Given a 10-minute gap, the enveloping dark would get pushed back by the lights coming on. Each lamp is a soldier, each beam a piercing stream, and each vein of light a march of fireflies. Add the moon and the stars, and Karachi becomes so much more than what Napier could have dreamt.
The rapid unplanned expansion of the city in the last century did challenge the nationalised power company, but since the magic of privatisation, the game is back. Karachi has regained its brilliance post sunsets and presents a blinking paradise to the passengers peering out of cabin windows on a landing flight. Roshnion ka Sheher – the City of Lights – the name speaks for both the physical luminescence that defines the skyline and the metaphorical brightness of a city that never truly sleeps.
Giving in to the demands of commerce, Karachi, like any developing economy, is now subject to mushrooming, unplanned growth, and large-scale encroachment. Almost every utility in Karachi is struggling. Power shortages, water scarcity, outdated sewerage systems, and inefficient waste disposal pose significant challenges to daily life and economic growth. The need for reliable and sustainable utility services has never been more critical, but it is important to understand that utilities cannot progress without overall planned infrastructural development, public awareness around encroachment and legalised power connections.
To address these challenges, corporate involvement in utility management could be one of the viable solutions. Private sector participation, through investment, innovation, and efficient management, has the potential to enhance service delivery, reduce inefficiencies, and modernise infrastructure.
Encouraging corporate entities to take over or collaborate with public institutions could introduce much-needed reforms, bringing advanced technology, better resource management, and improved service reliability to the city. This shift is essential for Karachi’s long-term sustainability, and economic prosperity can only be achieved by building a case study on successful privatisation. K-Electric can be looked at as a sound example. Since its privatisation in 2005, the company has gradually transformed the city’s relationship with power by categorising loss and no-loss areas and ensuring a consistent flow in the latter. Discouraging, foul means of stealing power or getting illegal connections have helped many communities gear up for maintaining infrastructure and ensuring timely payments for the best prospects. Recently, the utility has also been seen organising facilitation camps, helping people understand their outstanding dues and facilitating in clearing them, surely reflecting that the utility also cares and is willing to help those who value their connectivity and pay bills on time.
A profound impact of a well-lit city is on its inhabitants. Whether it is the case of busy food streets, quiet parks with lone joggers counting their steps, cart sellers near the seashore, or people sitting on the sea view wall to enjoy the monsoons – light is an instant doze of cheerfulness and safety. Keeping the need for electricity and increasing concerns of stability, various metropolises around the world have started reequipping themselves with smart technology. This should also be the next step for Karachi. Karachi, to keep the energy flowing and lights blazing, must look into smart tools for a sustainable future. For native Karachiites, these changes represent not just technical improvements but cultural shifts in relationship with utility providers – an expectation of reliable service rather than just the capacity to endure its absence, greater accountability, and sustainable development. While challenges remain, particularly in extending reliable power to all residents regardless of socioeconomic status, the trajectory points toward a brighter future.
For those of us who call this magnificent coastal metropolis home, Karachi will always be Roshnion ka Sheher – not just for the electricity that powers our lights, but for the undimmed spirit of its people that truly makes this city shine.
The writer is a communication strategist, an educationist, a public speaker, and a researcher. She can be reached at shahatariq67 @gmail.com.