On the 17th of August, 2006, Karachi received another massive downpour of rain. A happening that should really have been something that should have released the frustrated residents of the city from the heat, grime and pollution that fills up the city, ended up being quite murderous. Almost twice the average of the monthly rain in around a couple of hours, and the result was torturous. Everything that could fail, failed. More than 20 people died, most of them electrocuted, from all parts of the city. Supposedly posh areas began to resemble hotbeds of cesspool, with the amount of water lying around and the lack of drainage to get rid of it. Basements were flooded, and the floors electrocuted…
I was actually caught out during the storm, and had to spend the night elsewhere. First hand, I saw as the city struggled to come to grip with the failing system (or the lack of it) around them. Water rose up to one’s knees in certain areas, and even a certain Saddar Campus began to resemble a bit of a swimming pool. I guess the positive might say that since we can’t go to Venice then we should bring it to us.
Rather unfortunately, what I saw seemed to resemble more like something out of Escape From LA. Roads after roads were water logged, or jammed with traffic. Cars were stuck in deep water, in manholes and what not. Motorcyclists and pedestrians tried to cope as they could best, but wouldn’t be very successful. Across Shahrah-e-Faisal, the scene began to resemble a mass exodus. Throngs of people had discarded their vehicles and had started walking towards some sort of safety. Some of them may not have reached home. I heard of a father and son who got out of the car when it broke down, only to be electrocuted instantly.
On top of that, the piece-de-resistance was the fact that during this whole drama, a large number of people decided that the situation was ripe to steal money and mobile phones from stuck motorists. I’m sure these people never have had a chance to look at the word ‘shameful’, ‘moral’ or even effing ‘conscience’.
And as for the city government, the least said the better.
I was impressed though, with the underpass, and its state of the art dams that kept Teen Talwar flooded. In spite of that, the underpass got flooded again.
But I was honestly very impressed with the radio coverage on the FM channels. They gave an excellent of the traffic situation and the water situation across the city, and kept informing the stuck commuters about which routes to take and where not to go. Geo, on the other hand, could have done with a traffic helicopter.
And now, supposedly more rain is expected…
I’ll never forget the sight I saw from on top of the flyover at Shahrah-e-Faisal, near FTC. Water, stuck cars, and people walking like helpless refugees. Refugees, in their own city.
‘mair! Wow! I loved reading this. I had no idea about the loss of lives. That is very sad. I know people would perish in Indus floods during this season, but I don’t think anything like this happened during my time there. I recall footage of Nawaz Sharif helping rebuild homes in villages after a flood. Propaganda for his campaign.
I remember the clouds cooling us off, turning days into what we considered “beautiful” in the heat. We’d play in the torrential downpour, until our mother would call us inside to dry off next to hot samosas in candlelight. So it went each monsoon season. St. Joseph’s would be flooded… Oh, my heart… so nostalgic.