Once again the ‘Baba’ saved Karachi. Every time the sea threatens to invade the city, there are thousands who stick to their belief that Abdullah Shah Ghazi would not allow Poseidon to enter his domain. Every time he wins, firming the belief further that he is the guardian of the coastline. However, what nobody bothers asking is why he does not guard the poor people of Thatta and Badin? The residents of the poverty stricken fishing settlements along the coast, who cannot bear the day to day expenses, and sometimes are not even capable of affording one square meal a day, are ignored continuously. But the ‘Baba’ chooses to save the Karachiites from the wrath of the sea, and not the poor of other cities.
Hence and therefore, the Karachiites continue to construct poorly, with a bare minimum regard for bylaws, hardly any consideration for the end user if it is an apartment building and forgetting about all the disasters that may befall this city, any time or any day. Encroachments continue with the excuse that the government does now provide enough housing and katchi abadies crop up every now and then in the most bizarre areas possible. Think of a cantilevered room on the Lyari River, housing a family of four, the window allowing a filthy breeze laden with mosquitoes and flies to circulate in the room graced with one large window, and two naked children playing around.
We as a nation, have a penchant for temporary solutions. Therefore, we will wait until the next flooding of the nullah, and meanwhile add another cantilevered room, since another brother is ready to settle down, who would soon have a brood of his own to take care of.
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