A CITY of 20 million like Karachi generates at least 20,000 tonnes of solid waste per day, calculated as per the internationally accepted formula.

The Sindh chief minister was thus either deluding himself or pouring salt on the wounds of Karachi’s citizens when he gave officials a three-day deadline to clear garbage from a city that has not witnessed a clean-up operation of the municipal kind for an extremely long time.

He reinforced his instructions by saying that he had provided sufficient funds for the purpose to the KMC, the District Municipal Corporations and deputy commissioners and threatened to terminate the officials concerned and the sanitation employees who “do not perform despite drawing salaries”.

Of course, no one has attempted to undertake the Sisyphean task that has been demanded. Since then, in fact, there has been talk of outsourcing garbage collection to a Chinese company.

Even for a city that has long been a byword for urban decay, the decline of Karachi over the last few years has been marked, particularly since the local government system has been in abeyance.

Entire streets are being encroached upon by piles of garbage that grow by the day.

A serious effort to tackle this chronic problem entails getting down to the brass tacks and first setting up a committee with relevant, informed members to assess the situation so that a well-thought-out course of action can be devised.

Contrary to the chief minister’s assertions, the funds allocated to waste collection and disposal are grossly inadequate. Moreover, for years there has been little investment in equipment and training, and manpower consists almost solely of political appointees who work to further their party’s objectives rather than discharge the duties they are being paid to do.

Therefore, plans for proper personnel induction and SOPs need to be drawn up. There is no quick fix — not even a Chinese one — for such a prolonged dereliction of duty that has reduced Karachi to a vast, urban slum.

Published in Dawn, July 23rd, 2016