THIS is both interesting and saddening. Interesting: because in the past, Karachi’s civic bodies used to have a holistic view of their duties. Saddening: because ours is no longer a city where we can talk about our rights without feeling guilty.

Municipal corporations are meant for development work, to make sure that citizens get their fair share of amenities and keep their cities devoid of snags that can create nuisance in their lives. Fifty years back, the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation functioned with a sense of responsibility on civic and social levels. On May 30, 1966 it was announced that the KMC had sanctioned 473 scholarships of Rs155 each per annum to poor and meritorious students studying in different colleges of the city. It advised the students to produce their ID cards and letters from principals of their institutions before the assistant accounts officer of the KMC to receive their cheques. How noteworthy is that! The corporation used to be thoughtful and proactive.

Mind you, it was not just about being proactive. In those days the authorities concerned also reacted timely to crises, well, most of the time. For example, on June 1, a fire broke out in a shoe shop on Elphinstone Street (now Zaibunissa Street). According to the Saddar Fire Station, the flames engulfed the shop at 9pm when it was closed. Two fire engines rushed to the scene and put out the blaze in an hour. A few chairs and some other goods lying in the store were burnt.

Incidentally, on June 2 at 4.30pm another fire incident in a cotton waste godown of a textile mill in the SITE area occurred. Six fire engines reached the mill and it took them six hours to do their job.

So much for the timely reactions. What about a situation which is as hard to tackle as it is to understand? On June 4 this newspaper reported that about a dozen bearded, long-haired and barefoot American men and women were in Karachi posing a problem for local authorities. They moved about during the day and slept at night on sidewalks. They had walked into the city from Balochistan, which they had entered without visas, late last month and were now wandering aimlessly. They claimed to be pilgrims visiting various countries. The US Embassy in Karachi had called them ‘tourists’. But the published report hinted at something else: “Their unwashed hair and soiled clothes stink of high heaven. Are they really pilgrims or have they crossed over to Pakistan for some ulterior motive like espionage? The question is troubling local officials and the public.”

Apparently, the dubious Americans had earlier been to Turkey and Iran but were reportedly pushed out of the two countries. They entered Pakistan via Nokkundi and were arrested for not having visas. They were convicted under the Passport Act, fined Rs5 each and were ordered to leave Pakistani within 10 days or get their visas from Karachi. The US Embassy stepped in, requesting the Pakistani government to issue them visas. Wow! Pilgrims, sleuths… In either case, it seems, Pakistan, especially Karachi, has intrigued the Americans for a long, long time.

Back to our metropolis now. On June 3, a seminar on the ‘problems of Karachi’ was held at a hotel under the auspices of the Karachi Council. Speaking on the occasion City Commissioner Syed Darbar Ali Shah said 19 years had passed and the drinking water facilities in many colonies were far from satisfactory. Dr Manzoor Ahmed of the Political Science Department, University of Karachi, lamented the failing standard of education. Ironically, their complaints are relevant to date.

Published in Dawn, May 30th, 2016