Karachities Hosting, An Uninvited Guest

Karachi, the seventh biggest city in the world is once again hosting an uninvited guest in form of water. As the highest ever amount of rainfall has been recorded in the city. Usually, corruption and bad governance are the main causes of problems arose in the city, but in this case, unplanned construction is another reason due to which people have lost their lives, earnings, and houses. From Highways to streets, Local markets to shopping malls you will find everything underwater.

Every year monsoon season hits Karachi badly but this time it has turned into a disaster. Karachi recorded 223.5-millimeter rain on 27^th August 2020. Which has turned the alpha city into a pond. In Karachi, there are 70 percent slum areas, occupying 90 percent of the total population of the city. These areas are badly affected by rain every year. Water into bedrooms is normal for people living there but this time water is not limited to slum areas, it has affected modern housing societies too. No matter you are living in the slums of Lyari or a villa in DHA, water is there in your house as an uninvited guest. The rain has exposed so-called “Planned Housing societies”.

Now when the world is facing problems like climate change, we need to devise strategies based on modern ideas to tackle the increasing amount of rainfall every year. Looking at the history, we notice that in the year 1987, 1991, 1993, 1996, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2002 and 2004 City has received very little or no rainfall but in between these years there are times when heavy rainfall was recorded in the economic hub of the country. To tackle this unexpected guest administration really needs to go one step ahead.

Today there are around 20 slum areas near the sea. Environmental monitoring and other studies should be held by district administration before giving permission for construction. Because recent events have proved that illegal constructions can lead to severe problems.  Now as Government has shown interest in the real estate sector, there is hope that authorities will regulate the development sector of Karachi and people will get rid of this uninvited guest, that comes after every rainfall.