Call to restore natural waterways to prevent urban flooding in Karachi-Pakistan

•Many housing societies, the Marier Expressway is based on “environmentally unfriendly” waterways
•MOOT needs to protect Karachi villages, the remaining agricultural areas

Karachi: Climate change experts and civil society members on Friday called for immediate recovery and cleaning of natural waterways in the city, warning that continuing to ignore the problem could lead to more frequent and more serious City flood In this city, as seen recently rain.

This is the gist of the “Barriers of Natural Waterways in Karachi and the Barriers of the Heroes” held at the Karachi Press Club.

The speaker also stressed that housing society is built on natural waterways such as seeds and seeds, as well as projects near the Marier Highway, also known as Shahrah-i-Bhutto, are environmentally unfriendly.

They also pointed out that the mountain torrents of the Korsal Mountains expanded the Lyari and Malir rivers and stressed the need to remove all clogs and encroachments in these areas to allow the flow to flow smoothly.

Urban planner Muhammad Toe said in this speech that climate change is now an undeniable reality, and Karachi is still lagging far behind despite countries around the world’s upgraded drainage and infrastructure systems in response.

“There are ubiquitous issues related to the environment and climate,” he said. The most vulnerable In countries with climate change, this issue is still not urgently required.

He noted that Karachi lacked proper planning and coordination among civic institutions. There is no significant progress in road engineering or drainage infrastructure. He said Karachi Metropolitan Corporation also had to take responsibility, stressing that contractors often build roads without engineering oversight, which leads to poorly designed surfaces that can cause water to build up and form flooding with low saturation flooding.

Mr Toshid further criticized the seven stormwater discharges from Karachi Water and Sewage Treatment Company.

“It’s a disaster. Now, we can’t even tell the difference between the Suderage line and the stormwater discharge,” he said. “The city’s sewage system has collapsed and even without rainfall, the sewage has stalled in several areas.”

He stressed the urgent need to restore and separate the city’s drainage and respiratory infrastructure to prevent further deterioration.

“Bad urban planning destroys Marill’s agricultural state”

He noted that Marill and its surrounding areas were once fertile agricultural land, where crops, fruits and vegetables were grown widely, but this productivity has dropped significantly over the years due to poor urban planning and the rise of housing societies, the rise of housing societies, and the rise of housing societies and housing societies. Development Projects Not environmentally friendly.

Similarly, author Ramzan Baloch said that Marill used to have clean drinking water and was known for producing high-quality crops, but over the years, the region’s natural resources have suffered several degradation.

He also lamented that there was no interest in environmental issues, which is one of the main reasons for the lack of practical action on Pakistan’s climate-related challenges.

Mr Baloch also accuses those of the current crisis and says that it is the responsibility of the rulers to resolve these issues, but they fail to take meaningful action.

Social activist Bashir Baloch said a lot of rain flowing from Kirthar to Lyari and the Malir Rivers. Therefore, the authorities need to remove all obstacles and encroachments in these areas to ensure proper water flow and previous disasters.

He cites a historical example and points out that the British once built a railway bridge over the Marill River, which was later washed away by heavy rain as a result of a large amount of water flowing across the river. He added that something similar happened in the current rainfall.

He also criticized the mayor and claimed that he lacked proper knowledge of the city’s geography and its natural waterways, as evident from his recent media writings.

Climate activist Yasir Darya said weather patterns have become increasingly unpredictable due to climate change, which disrupts the natural cycle of the season. He added that even weather experts are working to accurately predict the conditions in a few days. In this case, he stressed that better urban planning is urgently needed in Karachi to prepare for and adapt to these changes.

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