By: Anwar Roshan Ali
Despite being the country’s largest commercial and economic hub and the largest source of financial resources to the state exchequer, Karachi, once known as the Brideland, has been neglected by federal and provincial governments for decades. As a result, the city’s problems are getting worse and worse. Even the present PTI government in its first three years has not shown any significant performance in solving the problems and construction and development of Karachi, however, recent positive progress towards the completion of the previous government’s Green Line Bus project. While the restoration work of the circular railway which was running in this city 50 years ago is also starting and the Prime Minister must have laid the foundation stone before publishing these lines. Before arriving in Karachi, he lauded the efforts of the Ministry of Maritime Affairs and termed the decision to include Karachi Comprehensive Economic Corridor Zone in the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor as a game changer for the city and expressed hope that it would It will help clean up the sea for fishermen, build 20,000 low-income homes and create investment opportunities. He said that his government would make Karachi on par with the developed coastal cities of the world. May these assurances of the Prime Minister come true. However, a permanent and lasting solution to Karachi’s problems, like other metropolitan cities in the world, is the establishment of its own empowered city government. Here, whenever an empowered local government system has been effectively established, the results have been very encouraging. Therefore, the establishment and continuity of an elected city government with the necessary resources and powers should be ensured that this is the only way for the smooth development of Karachi.