Islamabad, Jan 19 (IANS) Pakistan's leading city and financial capital Karachi stands deprived of water and energy resources, with residents purchasing water from the tanker mafia which function under corrupt individuals and using alternate electricity arrangements like UPS, solar panels and generators, a report has stated. It mentioned that people in Karachi were themselves paying for their security as well.

The government agencies instead of helping residents are more a nuisance. Gas in Karachi is also rationed suddenly, according to an opinion piece in Pakistan-based Business Recorder. All the roads in Karachi are broken and in deplorable state. It seems that the target is to ensure that no road or street should have a smooth stretch beyond five yards.

"A rightful question of the citizenry is: if we pay for everything that in other countries is provided by the government, then are the taxes paid by them meant only for tickling the ego of the politicians; they are allowed by the masses to roam around in a royal cavalcade of 30- 40 vehicles. In short, it is the private sector that is keeping the city alive and kicking. The efforts deliberate or otherwise to convert it into ruins haven’t ceased," Sirajuddin Aziz, a senior banker and freelance economist, wrote in an opinion piece for Business Recorder.

With the absence of the government and governance, several groups have demanded that powers-that-be pay attention to the rapid decline of Karachi, a city which is having growing population both by procreation and migration. During a recent meeting of one such group, a group member claimed that on average at least 300,000 people migrate each month to cities of Sindh from all over the country to seek better economic opportunities.

The population of Karachi is intentionally placed at 20 million people, while the region could easily be in the region of 20 to 30 million. According to the report, the devolution towards local government has stopped in Karachi.

The opinion piece in Business Recorder stated, "The need is to devolve power to the people of the city. The resource allocation and its application need to be corrected and revised. If Pakistan has to achieve exports in excess of USD 50 billion over the next 5/8 years, it has to make Karachi a fully functional city."

The writer asked asked why the authorities were not looking at the possibility of creating more administrative units, stressing that it will unite more than divide.

"The need is to place power to the people who have to follow the highest standards of governance. Accountability should be ruthless and unpardoning. Let the local government work. Let’s build a new or repair the infrastructure. Let’s export, that’s the only way for Pakistan to have export-led growth and for that objective to be achieved Karachi is the lynchpin," it added

--IANS

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