IN the aftermath of Amjad Sabri’s assassination and the kidnapping of advocate Awais Ali Shah (subsequently released), the security and administrative leadership huddled together to examine the situation and take new steps: increasing the tally of police personnel by 20,000; instituting a fresh role for the National Counter Terrorism Authority; following up on a digitised federal crime records initiative; and preparing a focused profile of Karachi’s residents.

As per reports, the Sindh Rangers chief gave a briefing on the Karachi operation’s progress and explained the background to the current spate of targeted killings and kidnappings. The combination of moot participants and their perspectives make for an interesting read.

Our federal interior minister believes in increasing the numerical strength of the police, whose poor performance led to the Rangers being called into the metropolis. The provincial leadership appeared happy with this conclusion as it would create employment for the province’s youth. It is, however, commonly believed that Karachi’s law and order issues are entwined with social, political, administrative and economic factors that have not received apposite policy and institutional responses from the province or federation. It is wishful thinking to assume that the surgery that is the Karachi operation will achieve a lasting solution to the cumulative malaise of the past three decades.

Let us begin by taking stock of key realities in Karachi. An urban region of 24 million or more residents, the city is, in terms of population, larger than Balochistan. The metropolis contributes 20pc of the national GDP and half of total tax collections by the Federal Board of Revenue. Research conducted in 2010 shows that Karachi is the most inexpensive city in the world. With enormous economic and entrepreneurial attractions, Karachi is home to a diverse palette of folks from across the country, region and beyond.

The Karachi operation will not achieve a lasting solution without comprehensive administrative reform.

Despite its extraordinary social and economic status, Karachi is administratively and politically considered just another ordinary city in this country. It is ironic to note that the city municipality has a budget of $0.24 billion, despite making a contribution of around $57bn to the national GDP! Apart from this shameful denial of financial resources for the management and upkeep of routine infrastructure and urban services, the city is deprived of a comparable governance structure that can keep its diverse citizenry content and performing.

Existing and competing in a neoliberal era where consumerism dominates the social and economic trends of daily life, the sheer absence of essential urban services limits the extension of benefits from reaching all participating peoples. For example, a small apparel entrepreneur finds it impossible to scale up his production and outreach due to high costs of electricity and other inputs. Water- and power-supplying bodies generally discourage increased consumption due to their own operational limitations. Invisible costs — in the form of protection money and extortion, possible fleecing by functionaries of regulatory bodies, and market fluctuations — magnify his input costs, eventually making his enterprise unviable.

The regular affairs of the metropolis are heavily influenced by an array of stakeholder groups. Political and religious parties/groups, and their clandestine sub-groups with criminal credentials; real estate developers and builders; drugs and arms supply syndicates; goods transporters; illegal water extraction and selling cartels; investors in mega retail and trading enterprises; and media houses are some examples. It is believed that the government’s approach tends to facilitate clandestine deal-making, enabling such enterprises to boom even after violating basic laws.

A large supermarket developed on a public amenity plot in Lines Area is a case in point. Even a Supreme Court edict could not get the park space restored and recovered.

While members of such stakeholder groups continue to grow strong and prosperous, government institutions neither make their profits benefit the poor, nor do they regulate the damaging consequences for the urban environment. Completely dumped by state authorities, the unemployed youth become easy recruits for the multiple informal projects hatched by these stakeholders. Tools and proceedings of environmental impact assessments do not seem to halt or modify the negative bearings of these undertakings. There emerge gang fights and conflicts among the stakeholders and with the people. No mechanism of conflict resolution is available to deal with these bloody feuds. The complex gang wars in Lyari are examples; they have resulted in thousands of casualties and many more residents have become homeless and financially crippled.

Political parties that claim to represent Karachi periodically demand the status of a separate province for the metropolis. However, there are many ways of working within the existing constitutional scheme that can benefit Karachi and its residents.

Politicians can consider formulating a political framework where the provincial government can supervise metropolitan affairs after granting a separate autonomous administrative status to Karachi. This could be called the ‘Greater Karachi Metropolitan Administration’. Within this arrangement, the Karachi mayor can become the executive functionary with enhanced financial and administrative powers. Stakeholders of the metropolis must be mainstreamed through a consultative platform to voice and deliberate the concerns and issues faced by them. After articulation, such provisions can become the much-needed democratic arrangements for debate and discussion around Karachi’s affairs.

The city needs its rightful share in recurring and development funds. The former can be extended by the province while the National Finance Commission may consider having special provisions for large cities. Many countries across the globe have such allocations. Service delivery agencies, such as the Karachi Water and Sewerage Board, need a complete overhaul. Their financial management and revenue recovery should be outsourced to the private sector with appropriate safeguards. Unless such core matters of Karachi are addressed, increasing the number of cops will not make the metropolis any better.

The writer is chairman, Department of Architecture & Planning, NED University, Karachi.

Published in Dawn, July 21st, 2016