THE tall claims made by the Karachi administration regarding municipal services in the city got washed away by the recent spells of rain. In different accidents, lives were lost, many suffered injuries, and thousands of people got badly affected.
Almost all the main roads are still in a battered condition, while a mixture of stagnant rainwater and sewage continues to make life miserable in a number of areas.
It has become a routine practice for the authorities to wake up only after disaster has struck, and even then their efforts are restricted to makeshif t arrangements rather than taking concrete measures for resolving the issues on a permanent basis.
The role of the city administration as well as that of various disaster management authorities in the wake of the recent rains has been nothing but condemnable.
Instead ofshiftingresponsibilities to others and indulging in blame-games, they must pay heed to their basic responsibilities. For this purpose, the authorities should conduct a detailed survey of the whole city, especially the slum areas, and plan a full-scale rehabilitation drive.
