KARACHI: Speakers at a webinar on Karachi’s dilapidated infrastructure: major challenges agreed that the metropolitan city needed strong centralised planning and administration.

They said that the city’s infrastructure challenges were by and large related to bad governance.

The webinar, organised by Mehfooz Pakistan, was moderated by journalist Zarrar Khuhro and attended by former Karachi administrator Fahim Zaman, Prof Lubna Baig of the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre, urban planner Muhammad Toheed and journalist Naimat Khan.

Speaking on the occasion, Mr Zaman linked the poor infrastructure of the metropolis with bad governance.

Mr Toheed said the lack of availability of water was Karachi’s biggest problem.

He said that instead of demolishing people’s homes and abandoning them the government should shift them to alternative locations.

Dr Lubna Baig said that the city witnessed 100-150 accidents every day and 90 per cent of these involved motorcyclists.

She said that doctors urged people to wash hands but that was simply not possible when there wasn’t even enough potable water.

Journalist Khan said some years ago the city had 700 bus routes and 25,000 buses and now less than a thousand buses were being plied in the city.

Published in Dawn, November 26th, 2022