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Business Recorder
a day ago
- Climate
- Business Recorder
Monsoon spell cripples Karachi
KARACHI: The first spell of monsoon rain has turned Karachi into a scene of urban chaos, once again exposing the city's fragile civic infrastructure, Business Recorder learnt on Saturday. Widespread chaos was reported in the old city areas, where inundated streets, overflowing sewage systems, and crumbling road infrastructure brought severe disruption to daily life across multiple neighbourhoods. Even the stretch near the Karachi Municipal Corporation's head office on MA Jinnah Road was inundated, with rainwater and sewage pooling on the streets outside the city's administrative hub. Commercial areas saw partial closures public transport was delayed, and clogged drains caused rainwater to accumulate for hours in low-lying areas. Manholes overflowed, broken sewerage lines spewed muck, and the city's already damaged roads buckled further under the pressure. From Nazimabad to Gulshan-e-Iqbal, Saadi Town to Shahrah-e-Faisal, and even parts of the M-9 Motorway access routes affected by the rain with traffic halt and forced many to remain indoors. Amid growing public anger, Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) Karachi Chief Monem Zafar strongly criticized the Pakistan People's Party (PPP) led Sindh government and the mayor's office for their failure to clean storm water drains before the rains began. He said, 'The people of Karachi are paying the price for the utter incompetence and criminal negligence of the Sindh government and the mayor's office.' Monem pointed out that major drainage channels — including New Karachi Nullah, Gujjar Nullah, Shadman Nullah, and Mahmoodabad Nullah — had started overflowing with the very first spell of rain. 'This was a visible and preventable disaster. Even after warnings by opposition members, no action was taken,' he said. NDMA issues impact-based weather alerts as monsoon rains lash Pakistan He added that Rs410 million were allocated last year for drain cleaning, and the mayor had promised that all nullahs would be cleaned every three months. 'These were hollow promises. Not a single drain was cleared properly. Karachi is now drowning in their incompetence,' he said. The Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) confirmed substantial rainfall across Karachi in the past two days. Rainfall amounts recorded include: Surjani Town 38mm, Gulshan-e-Maymar 28mm, Saadi Town 20mm, University Road 13mm, Nazimabad and Jinnah Terminal 09mm, Korangi Town and North Karachi 07mm, and Kemari and Orangi Town 06mm. Light rain was also reported from Saddar, DHA Phase II, and Gulshan-e-Hadeed. In addition to water logging, residents also faced long power outages — some lasting up to 18 hours — especially in areas like Lyari and Khadda Market. Markets shut down early in many areas, and delivery services were suspended in flood-affected zones. The PMD has issued a fresh warning, forecasting more rainfall and thunderstorms for Karachi and much of Sindh. Moist currents from the Arabian Sea and Bay of Bengal, along with an approaching westerly wave, are expected to intensify over the weekend. Moderate to heavy rainfall is expected in several areas of Karachi on Sunday, with maximum temperatures ranging between 30 to 32 degrees Celsius and humidity around 80 percent. The Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) has placed all district administrations and emergency services on high alert. Departments responsible for law enforcement, health, utility services, and welfare organizations have been asked to coordinate and take all necessary precautions. Other cities in Sindh are also expected to receive rain in the coming days. Moderate to heavy showers are likely in Jamshoro, Hyderabad, Dadu, Thatta, Sujawal, Tando Allahyar, Matiari, Shaheed Benazirabad, Naushahro Feroze, and Badin, while lighter rainfall may occur in Tharparkar, Umerkot, Mirpurkhas, Sukkur, Khairpur, Jacobabad, and Larkana. Meanwhile, widespread rain is also forecast for the upper parts of the country, according to the Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD). The ongoing monsoon activity continues to bring significant rainfall to various regions. On Saturday, Attock received the highest recorded rainfall at 102mm, followed by 65mm at Lahore Airport and 32mm in Chakwal. Other areas also reported notable precipitation. In Azad Jammu and Kashmir, Kotli received 25mm of rain, while Muzaffarabad recorded 4mm. Kakul in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa saw 24mm, Malam Jabba 9mm, and Balakot 8mm. In Balochistan, Kalat recorded 21mm of rain and Lasbella 3mm, indicating the spread of the monsoon system into southwestern parts of the country as well. The weather office warned of flash floods in nullahs and hill torrents in Murree, Galiyat, Islamabad, Rawalpindi, Mansehra, Abbottabad, Swat, and adjoining areas. Landslides could also affect roads in hilly terrain. Additionally, strong winds and lightning may damage solar panels, rooftops, vehicles, and billboards across several vulnerable districts. As Karachi residents brace for the next round of showers, they are left wondering whether the city's administration will respond or continue to let the rain wash away promises, again. Copyright Business Recorder, 2025
Express Tribune
08-05-2025
- Business
- Express Tribune
Digitally 'sapped'
Listen to article Circa 1925: The undivided Indian subcontinent ruled by the British, consisted of approximately 2 million government employees and about 20 million pensioners. The number of ghost employees and ghost pensioners was zero and no one fraudulently received salary or pension from two different government departments. Now fast forward by a century, 2025 to be exact, and focus on just two government departments. The Karachi Development Authority's recent audit revealed that Rs667 million or 30% of KDA's total pension fund of Rs2.21 billion was fraudulently received by some 500 bogus pensioners. Another 2024 report, on Karachi Municipal Corporation, uncovered approximately 950 ghost employees, besides another 200 individuals drawing salaries from two public sector organisations simultaneously. The two examples are just the tip of an iceberg in an ocean of 'ghosts'. How does Pakistan reform its bizarre 'multiple salary and ghost pensioner' crisis? The KMC's proud announcement of purchasing very expensive Enterprise software from a global company for their payroll processing was received with an aura of disbelief and astonishment — akin to shooting a sparrow with a missile. It was deeply disappointing to see Pakistan missing an excellent opportunity, especially when hundreds of our own IT companies are developing and exporting (around $4 billion this year) enterprise-level HR systems. We also have organisations like Ignite for developing incubation centres and universities that have produced a steady stream of IT professionals for the past many decades. Global enterprise-level software are known as expensive solutions due to their upfront payment, implementation cost, change request and upkeep perspective. They take a huge toll on our limited foreign exchange and make us reach out to respective consultants for every small change. They have a long implementation period and in many cases the requirements get dated by the time the software is rolled out. Both the cost and ease of use are some of the key factors for selecting software. Typically, a system such as SAP, would initially cost over $100,000 (depending upon the number of employees), followed by 10-15% yearly payment for upkeep. Why would a single government department of a developing country choose such an astronomically expensive option? Would thousands of other government departments be also competing with each other in pursuit of similar high-cost imported solutions? Pakistan is digitally 'sapped' and asphyxiated. It cries out for urgent and radical citizen-centric digital reforms — that deliver services to citizens, bring efficiencies in government operations and plug wastages in the national exchequer. We could learn from excellent digital services established by Uzbekistan, where a single unified interactive portal delivers all services offered by the state, where no one ever submits photocopies and affidavits, where no one needs to visit government offices and where no one can draw ghost pension for even a single day, as all births and deaths are officially registered on the same day. Pakistan too can step forward to deconstruct and reform its century-old system of governance-by-photocopies. It can engage its youth, its academia and its excellent software houses to provide indigenous low-cost solutions. These could be standardised across the country, integrated with each other and linked to NADRA. This would enable us to eliminate the existing chaos where an individual can simultaneously (and easily) be receiving salary or pension from six different municipalities of Pakistan. A well-integrated system will not just make all ghost salaries and double pensions a tale of the past but will also instantaneously highlight numerous other shortcomings. The 60% neglected workforce that is not paid the minimum wage, the 95% workers who are cruelly deprived of their EOBI and thousands who draw salaries without ever having done a single day's work are just a few of such regularly committed malpractices. Pakistan and its ordinary people must no longer suffer a life of misery and runarounds, simply because our leaders are unable to imagine how digital technology can lift Pakistan out of its self-created poverty and affliction.
