IT has been almost two months since Karachi received torrential rains and the havoc that it wreaked on the metropolis. While the civic authorities are still in the process of patching up some of the roads, the potholes on a number of main roads are causing great distress to the commuters.

The dilapidated roads are especially of nuisance for senior citizens who find travelling on such thoroughfares more of a nuisance. One hopes the provincial government and city officials will resolve the matter sooner rather than later.

Sassi Bhutto

Karachi

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NO city in the world can flourish without adequate water supply and well-maintained drainage system. Yet Karachi lacks both these civic amenities despite being one of the largest and the most populated cities of the world.

Roads and flyovers, which are of primary importance elsewhere, present a gloomy picture in the metropolis. The city faces shortage of water, poor drainage system and dilapidated road infrastructure that fail to cater to the needs of its ever-growing population.

Another problem is the badly designed and hastily built roads on which potholes appear within no time. They are then reconstructed with little planning after piling up heaps of stones, raising the road level above residential houses. This often leads to rainwater mixed with sewage flowing into the houses.

In the developed world, roads are built after considerable planning and are regularly maintained. It rains frequently in big cities, like, say, London, but one never witnesses battered roads or overflowing sewage.

Karachi is in dire need of a modern system for the management of civic issues. The government should look into it and ditch its obsolete practices to expedite Karachi’s development.

A citizen

Hyderabad

Published in Dawn, October 17th, 2020