DURING the monsoon season, although the weather turns pleasant, most people dread the approaching storm clouds as the devastation wrought on civic infrastructure — particularly in a large, congested city like Karachi — is extensive. Apart from the near-total collapse of the urban system after a few millimetres of rain, an equally worrying issue that emerges is that of vector-borne and waterborne diseases, resulting from pools of stagnant water. In particular, a debilitating bouquet of mosquito-borne diseases, such as dengue, malaria and chikungunya, pose a major threat to public health if the work of draining stagnant water and lifting garbage is not carried out by the civic authorities. The figures from the past year, for example, are not encouraging. Last year, according to the National Institute of Health in Islamabad, there were over 2,000 dengue cases in Sindh; the figure for malaria crossed 100,000. Similar is the situation with chikungunya, a painful vector-borne disease that affects the joints. While not all these infections result in death, the quality of life and the long-term health of victims is severely compromised.

Considering the forecast for more rains during the current monsoon season, civic authorities across the country need to up their game and eliminate the breeding grounds for vector-borne and waterborne diseases on a war footing. While some experts have called for raising public awareness, it is the civic authorities that need to be particularly active in draining out stagnant water in the aftermath of rains. Furthermore, spraying must be carried out to eliminate the breeding grounds of mosquitoes. Of course, the local government and waste management system in Karachi are largely dysfunctional. But this cannot be used as an excuse by the authorities concerned to sit back and do nothing. Both the Sindh government and KMC must coordinate to clean up the city in the aftermath of showers, while municipalities in other parts of Sindh, as well as in the rest of the country, must do the same to prevent the emergence of diseases.

Published in Dawn, August 3rd, 2019