KARACHI is a mega city of more than 20 million people which is the economic heart of Pakistan and is rightly called mini-Pakistan.

There seems to be a perennial water shortage in the city so much so that some localities are permanently dependent on the tankers mafia to cater to their needs.

What is surprising is that two-room flats are barely getting a few buckets of water. How come tankers carrying thousands of gallons of water are available on a phone call for those willing to pay?

Besides the acute water shortage afflicting the city, public transport is virtually non-existent. In fact the city had a better public transport system 35 years ago than what exists today. That is not all: chaotic traffic, dilapidated roads and a pathetic sanitation system have taken its toll.

Karachi, despite generating 60 per cent of the federal revenue, hardly has 10 per cent of this amount spent on its upkeep. The city needs the mutual efforts of the federal and provincial governments to restore its former glory and enable it to become the engine of Pakistan’s progress and prosperity.

Fayyaz Ashfaq

Karachi

Published in Dawn, May 18th, 2019