KARACHI: In the aftermath of the moderate rain experienced by the city on Friday afternoon and Saturday morning, many areas remained without electricity, the roads were flooded as gutters continued to overflow. Life came to a standstill as people faced the devastation caused by the downpour. Many programmes were postponed or cancelled and most shops and shopping centres were closed.

On other days of the year, Karachiites watch the pictures and clips of rainfall in other parts of the country with longing because situated at the edge of the desert, Karachi rarely receives rain. Usually, it pours here in the middle of August and that’s when all hell breaks loose because civic institutions in charge of cleaning the city sit idle throughout the year and are not prepared for the rains.

Hence the sewerage system collapses, gutters explode, roads are flooded, electric poles and weak structures fall down and power failures with feeders tripping here, there and everywhere prevent people from enjoying the rain like Amir Khusro and Mirza Ghalib wanted everyone to during their times. But had they lived in these interesting times, both these poets would have given us poems depicting the misery inflicted on people by the rain. Instead of singing his rain song, music maestro and vocalist Tansen, too, would have come up with a raga to stop raining.

So since they are not around any longer, citizens are left on their own to face the devastation caused by the rains in Karachi.

Electricity, which failed with the falling of the first drops of monsoon rain, was said to be caused due to the tripping of feeders and extra high-tension lines. Though K-Electric said that their emergency teams were at work, slowly bringing the system back on line, many areas were still without power even on Saturday.

To beat the heat indoors, children came outdoors and were seen splashing around in the dirty water standing on the roads as people rolled up their trousers to keep their clothes from getting dirty while trying to find their way in knee- or ankle-deep water. But the exercise went to complete waste in several cases when a car or motorbike sped past them, slashing them all over.

In some places a lone person with a long rod tried opening the blocked drains to no avail. Gutter covers and lids were removed to allow the water flow in but that, too, wasn’t happening with already overflowing gutters. In other places a group of sweepers were busy cleaning the standing water which then gathered in another ditch or pothole up ahead since all the drains were mostly clogged.

Most shops and markets remained closed. Still, some which were open had to place bricks or planks in the water accumulated in front of their entrance for customers to be able to reach them.

What the civic authorities in charge of clean-up work and damage repair were doing, meanwhile, was make rounds of the affected areas and get their pictures taken, which was then sent to the various newspapers alongside a press release stating that clean-up work was under way.

Published in Dawn, August 7th, 2016