Karachi, (Samajweekly) Despite its history of frequent garbage outbreaks, Karachi, the capital of Sindh province of Pakistan, is yet to come up with viable solutions for garbage management.
Once known as the ‘City of lights’, the’Paris of the East’ and ‘Bride of the Cities’, it has now come to resemble a large landfill site. The local residents feel choked by the prevailing state of affairs.
“People lack civic sense. The city is filled with litter. No one would clean up own country, if we will remain inactive in this regard. The roads are so clean in other countries, but here we have nothing but dilapidation, garbage, slush. Our leaders are only filling their own pockets. They have nothing else to do. They should get the country cleaned and bring the inflation down,” said Hamza Kashif, a local resident.
According to Kazim Hussain, another resident, the situation is so bad that it is virtually getting hard to breathe. Comparing Karachi with Dubai, where he lives, he said that he has been here for only a week and has suffered health problems on account of insanitation.
“We urge the government to at least get the city cleaned even if they do not intend to do anything about other issues like unemployment,” he said.
Mohammed Rehmat, another local resident, said that garbage is carelessly flung about the public places. He added that he was asked to approach the higher authorities when he submitted a complaint in this regard with the civic authorities of the area.
“The insanitation is making people, particularly children, fall sick,” he maintained.
Stating that the garbage problem was more intense in the backward areas, he added that water shortage, blocked drains and the mixing of sewage filth in the river water were among the other problems being faced by the residents.
“Our leaders themselves are buying properties abroad while the local populace is struggling with these problems,” Rehmat said.
