BY IRFAN HUSAIN == A city in freefall I WAS three years old when my family migrated to Pakistan from India in 1947, and have no early memories of Karachi. But in the early 1950s, the city was rela- tively small, clean and safe. As children, we would be playing outdoors until dark with- out our parents getting worried. There were no piles of garbage, no gunshots at night, and hardly any street crime. Now, of course, the city is a dump fester- ing in its own filth. As Rafia Zakaria reminded us in a recent column here, Karachi is virtually at the bottom of an international list of liveable cities out of 140 surveyed. In terms of aesthetics, amenities and architecture, Karachi was always a laggard. However, years ago, it was a pleasant town with flourishing cinemas, a vibrant night- life and some excellent bookshops. When he returned to Pakistan from the US in the early 1990s to try and establish a liberal arts university, I asked the late (and much missed) Dr Eqbal Ahmed where he would prefer to settle. He replied that his first choice would be Karachi as it was the only secular city in Pakistan. So it is with great sadness that I have wit- nessed the steady decline of the city I grew up in. One reason, of course, is that both the PPP and the MQM have treated Karachi as an ATM instead of a city they took pride in. The MQM did push through some essential infrastructure projects, but ultimately, the name of the game for both parties was ‘china-cutting’. This refers to slicing off taken a few pictures, they expla they had never seen such a sight : in the world. We are told that s dreds of new buses will be introc believe it when I see them. Over 1 many promises have been made cians only to be broken, so please ¢ cynicism. Processing plants don’t functio untreated sewage finds its way int Thus, much of the seafood we eat toxic metals. Subsoil water is sim juted, and vegetables grown in vicinity are heavily tainted with « from factories. ‘A few months ago, I saw a hear documentary about the trials an tions of the people living in the p tions of the city as they struggled water for their daily use. They wou for hours at public water taps v utensils. These sequences were with images of the gardens and s pools of the could afford tc In the water tankers. F bourhoods now early water as the 1950s, mafia’ has a tig] ~ water distributi Karachi Rafia Zakari harrowing acco: eT recent floods thi relatively garbage into Adding to this h small, the offal throw:pockets of state land to be sold for private profit. There has been much talk recently about the possibility of the federal government intervening to halt and reverse the slide. This suggestion has been met with much indignation, especially from the PPP. An editorial in this newspaper agreed there ‘was much to be done to improve matters, but the task should be undertaken by the provincial and city governments. The Constitution was cited to make the case for the clear separation of authority between the federal, provincial and city governments. Frankly, I couldn’t care less if Satan were to miraculously clean up Karachi. As a stakeholder, I have skin in the game, and can’t wait around for the eternity it would take for politicians and bureaucrats to get their act together. I just wish somebody — anybody! — would clean up the city, provide it with water, and fix its sanitation issues. A few years ago, I was showing some English friends around Karachi, and they suddenly asked the driver to stop. What had caught their attention was a bus with dozens of passengers on the roof. After they had clean and safe. streets after tl Eidul Azha sa cows, goats ar This cocktail of raw sewage has generated a biblic of flies. One of the theories that neatly for Karachi’s uncollected rubbis some major thugs control the recy« ness. Hundreds of their employ. dumps for empty bottles and can: be cleaned and resold. These croo city officials and politicians to let on with their rackets, and hence t] of rubbish. Foreign investors who! to get contracts to clean up the been discouraged. Fixing these problems does nc rocket science or massive resourct ticians were made to queue for wa up the rubbish dumps in their a travel by bus, I can assure you it take long to fix most of Karachi’s 5 But as this is not about to } would welcome the federal gove intervention. m irfan.husain@gmail.com