A FEW weeks ago, the City District Government of Karachi (CDGK) brought out supplements in many national dailies highlighting its cumulative performance and future promises.
Construction of flyovers and model parks; initiation of urban transport scheme; initiation of religio-cultural activities and support to town and union administrations were among the highlights. Any independent assessment of the past performance of the CDGK will give it credit for various accomplishments.
For any urban centre to function freely, candid interaction between the civic administration and the cross sections of stakeholders is vital. CDGK also attempted to identify the crucial urban problems and issues that Karachi has been grappling with for the past few decades. It is also important to note that few of the physical development projects resolved part of the problems for which they were undertaken.
The down side of the story is that the city is again clueless about its overall future course of action. In the absence of a socially viable and technically appropriate master plan; a neutral, independent and professionally competent planning agency and a considerate and sympathetic upper tiers of government, it appears that the city will have to make a fresh start after the forth coming local body elections. Another missed opportunity is the fact that the city of Karachi offers wealth of urban development experience of successful pilot projects and experiences which were never scaled up for the larger benefit of the communities.
Water supply, sanitation, housing, transportation, mega projects management, law and order, commercial space management and many other important urban development and management sectors can be dealt by learning from the pilot projects and utilizing experiences after suitable modifications.
Water supply has remained a chronic issue. Shortage of water in many neighbourhoods, line losses due to leakage and thefts, mismatch between the supply cost and tariffs, lack of operation and maintenance capacity, non-payment of utility charges and the rising number of consumers/upward mobility of lower middle and middle classes create an enormous pressure on the supply network. The extended summer months become even more stressful for the city dwellers.
The Water and Sanitation Department (WSD) of CDGK has been unable to deal with most of the supply management issues. At one stage, privatization of WSD (formerly KWSB) was considered as a solution. However due to the activism of concerned stakeholders and unpreparedness of the government, the idea was deferred. In-depth studies by various researchers and institutions have identified workable options. The WSD must be decentralized. It should reduce its role to bulk transmission while the supply management, maintenance of distribution networks, billing and recoveries must be delegated to Town Municipal Administrations (TMAs) in a phase wise manner.
Many low income communities manage water supply through community reservoirs known as awami (people’s) tanks. It has proved to be a useful experiment for peri-urban localities. Mansoor Nagar, Ghaziabad, Gulshan-e-Bihar, Gulshan-e-Zia, Rais Amrohvi Colony in Orangi Town; Christian Colony and other localities in Baldia Town and fringe areas of Surjani Town are benefiting from this method. Supply from a designated hydrant is done through tankers at a specified frequency. Household members fetch water from the tank either manually or through pipes if electricity or generator service is available. For large scale supply issues such as closure of hydrants, development of water reservoirs and metering of supply, local feasibility studies must be done at the town/neighbourhood level.
Solid waste management (SWM) and sewerage are chronic issues that the city has been facing for the past three decades. Most of the neighbourhoods and commercial places are littered with garbage. Large scale dumps can also be spotted all around. SWM is certainly one of those sectors, of urban services which has been adversely affected due to devolution of power. The erstwhile Solid Waste Management Department in KMC (now defunct) was structured after huge investments in capacity building, hard ware procurement and management consolidation.
As the axe of devolution fell, the department instantly became dysfunctional without delivering the services for which it was developed. Experiments of privatization of solid waste management services also proved to be ineffective. According to projected estimates, Karachi now generates more than 7000 tons of solid waste on a daily basis. Municipal service was able to lift one-third of this volume and transfer it to the dumping sites. However the waste pickers, in association with the informally organized recycling industry, were able to considerably reduce the volume of waste by removing recyclable objects from the dumps. It is also obvious that SWM is an expensive service.
Hardware and its maintenance, operation costs of vehicles, management of dumping sites, salaries of the sanitary staff would account for a sizable chunk of municipal finance. Several pilot projects in different communities showed that people pay willingly for the disposal of waste from house to the neighbourhood bins. Municipal arrangements are needed for efficient removal of dumps from the neighbourhood level to the dumping site. By accommodating the recyclers, waste pickers, junk dealers and goods transporters, a workable strategy can be worked out.
Sewerage has remained another sector that received flawed input in planning and implementation. The various schemes prepared for disposal of sewerage aimed at re-inventing the bulk sewerage flows without taking into account the prevailing situation. The city sewage is thrown into the various storm water drains, nullahs and city rivers. Without treatment of any kind, this raw sewage is thrown into the sea. There are three sewerage treatment plants which have a designed capacity to treat 151 million gallons per day (mgd).
Spot examinations have shown that the trunk sewers designed to bring sewage into these treatment plants do not receive adequate quantities to feed plants. As a consequence the treatment plants rarely function and treat only a fraction of the sewage. Massive municipal investment has thus gone into waste. Under the patronage of regional development finance institutions, many new schemes of sewerage treatment were prepared. Techncal assessment by local expert organizations, such as Orangi Pilot Project,Research and Training Institute (OPP-RTI), revealed the inbuilt short comings in these schemes. Inappropriate technology, high capital and operating costs, dubious feasibility and unguaranteed future performance were the key observations.
The research and extension work already demonstrated by OPP-RTI in Orangi and else where had clearly proved many aspects. The existing nullahs need to be consolidated, upgraded and maintained to carry the city sewage. Treatment facilities must be constructed at the down stream of the nullahs. Investments related to sewerage must focus on the trunk and primary infrastructure. Households and communities possess the potential and capacity to finance and manage lane level infrastructure on their own.
Countless housing projects have been announced by various government departments. The routine approach which is followed focuses on the provision of either built units or serviced plots to the poor. It has been proven that the public sector agencies can not finance and manage the enormous housing need which is constantly rising due to backlog, breakage of joint families into nuclear families, in-migration and housing stock replacement. As a result of inappropriate policies of the government, the katchi abadies continue to rise.
A significant pilot project undertaken in the housing sector is the Khuda ki Basti (Incremental Housing Scheme) by SAIBAN – a research based non-government organization. It aimed to reduce the land cost by minimizing the development standards according to the affordability of the poor. By applying stringent checks on the occupancy, the SAIBAN schemes ensured that only the real poor would only be allowed to live. While the scheme was duly recognized for its relevance and validity in various national housing policies, the concrete application has yet to emerge. Similar kind of experiences also exist in the domains of law and order maintenance, evictions, parks and landscape management and other urban sectors.
It may be taken into account that policy per se is not a wish list. It evolves from the experiences of successes and failures. A good policy is that which builds upon the successes to upscale them and curbs the failures to control their repetition. Greater emphasis usually remains on the local experiences due to their relevance and contextual appropriateness. In Karachi, there is no dearth of experiences in the various sectors of urban performance.
The need is to transform these experiences into workable policies for city development. This can best be achieved by creating an independent planning agency, manned by competent professionals and backed by administrative support. Delay in its creation shall be greatly detrimental for this already ill managed city.
