AS far as protests go, Alamgir Khan’s method was definitely unique. On Thursday, the activist hopped on to a tractor trolley loaded with malodorous garbage and tried to make his way to the Sindh Chief Minister’s House in Karachi, so that the rulers of the province could face what millions of city dwellers put up with every day.

The campaigner was arrested and reportedly granted bail on Friday.

The local chapter of the PTI staged a protest in support of Mr Khan, no doubt enjoying the bad PR the PPP-led provincial government was earning because of the episode.

Mr Khan has staged similar protests before, stencilling the words ‘fix it’, along with a picture of Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah, besides the city’s countless open manholes.

Though we may not necessarily agree with the method of protest, and despite the activist’s political links, the issues he has raised are entirely genuine and concern millions of citizens in Karachi and across urban Sindh.

The Sindh CM could try and escape censure by saying ‘this is not my problem’, as he has previously done. However, when confronted with dilapidated urban infrastructure and a collapse in civic services, where can the citizen turn? Karachi is touted as an Asian megacity.

However, wherever one goes in the metropolis, mounds of stinking garbage, crumbling roads and overflowing sewage are a ubiquitous sight, found in equal measure in posh localities, middle-class neighbourhoods and urban slums.

But the rulers — in their rarefied environs — are shielded from such ugliness. It is criminal that a city like Karachi has no proper solid waste disposal system. Whatever the criticism of the Musharraf-era local governments may have been, the set-up we have today has witnessed a considerable drop in service delivery.

Much of this is due to the fact that the Sindh government has clipped the wings of municipal authorities in the province. So, CM Sahib, can the people be blamed entirely if they end up knocking on your door for redress?

Published in Dawn, February 27th, 2016