KARACHI: The prolonged heatwave since Ist May to 19th July 2024 has turned out to be a nightmare in Karachi, affecting socio-economic activities, killing over 50 people, and affecting public health. The city’s average summer temperatures has risen by 3 degree centigrades due to impact of global warming, the rise in temperatures of surrounding regions, sea temperature hike, deforestation across Pakistan, particularly in Sindh, use of ACs, generators, industrial machines, rising transport, constructions, industrialization and commercialization in the mega city.

According to an investigative report made by PPI’s senior journalist M Nawaz Khuhro,  from April 1961 to July 2024, Karachi’s average summer temperature has risen by 3 degree centigrades, making the city so hotter that passing a day in a normal way has become miserable. Prolonged exposure to extreme heat has resulted in higher mortality rates, especially among vulnerable populations such as the elderly, children, and those with pre-existing health conditions. The hospitals have reported a surge in heatwave cases during this period.

The high temperatures have reduced worker productivity, particularly for those in outdoor places such as hotels, construction, transportation, and street vending fields. Heat stress has led to fatigue and reduced working capacity. Retail businesses, especially those that depend on carts, have witnessed a sharp decline in customers. The use of air conditioning has increased temperature and operational costs for businesses, further straining resources.

Increased use of air conditioning and cooling systems have caused higher electricity demand, which is resulting in power outages and load shedding across the city. Heatwave has tripled water supply demand across Karachi and the situation has turned so worst that even drinking water can not be received in many areas. For it, the people have to travel to other areas to get drinking water at Rs90 per a bottle, which was being sold at Rs30 three years ago. A water tank of 700 liters is being sold at Rs1400, which was being sold at Rs400 three years ago. The quality of bottled water has also reduced due to mixing of salty water.
The bottled and tanker water supply has become a big business in Karachi due to illegal sale of citizen’s due water share. Big mafias are involved in this ugly business as the rulers are silent over the issue for a long time. During summer days, citizens’ water is sold openly by reducing their pipeline water share.

Karachi Water & Sewerage Corporation and other authorities have badly failed to provide drinking as well as usable water to the citizens in many areas, particularly Lyari, Gulistan-e-Johar, Gulshan-e-Iqbal, Defence, Sohrab Goth, Gulshan-e-Maymar, and many areas. As a result, citizens’ miseries have risen.

The major contributor to the heat in the city is transport operating on fossil fuels. Hence, there is a need to turn transport on to an electric system. The smoke-emitting vehicles need to be stopped.  However, work on improving transportation is going on.
According to Pakistan Economic Survey 2024,  Green Line BRT in Karachi is ongoing with the support of $583.5 million from the GCF and other multilateral donors. The Asian Development Bank (ADB), the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), the Agence Française de Development (AFD) and the Green Climate Fund (GCF) are supporting the Karachi Bus Rapid Transit Red Line Project. In Karachi, the Federal Government has also approved a public-private-partnership (PPP) structure for the revival of the Karachi Circular Railway (KCR) to help reduce GHG emissions, for which a financing structure worth Rs 201 billion is already approved, the survey added.

Rapid population growth in the city has also added to the warming, making it more difficult for lower-middle-income people to meat treatment of health issues caused by the heatwaves. These people are already passing life in miserable condition. Rapid population growth has made it more difficult for them to afford the increase in public expenditures on a per capita basis that is needed to eradicate poverty, end hunger, malnutrition, and ensure universal access to health care, education and other essential services.

The winds from northern and western areas of the country, where the temperature range has been recorded at 40 to 53 degree centigrades, have been penetrating in the city continuously with a speed range of 14 to 19 km per hour since May 2024 as the sea winds of the city have slowed down to a lowest level of 10km per hour. Those winds have overcome the sea winds of Karachi, causing more heatwaves across the city.

The deforestation from northern, eastern and western areas of the country has raised warming in the region, which is continuously entering Karachi.  The forest area of Pakistan, particularly of Sindh, has reduced to an alarming level.
The country’s Economic Survey 2024 says: “Pakistan’s forest cover has reduced to 4.51 million hectares (5.1 percent of its total land area), with coniferous forests covering the most significant proportion at 37 percent, followed by Scrub Forests (22.2 percent), Mangroves (7.3 percent), Riverine Forests (7.8percent), and Irrigated Plantations (6.3 percent). The average annual deforestation rate stands at 11,000 hectares.”

The field investigation report by this senior journalist says the forest cover in Sindh has declined to 1.9 per cent of its total land area since last four decades due to massive cutting of trees for firewood, timber sale, and furniture, resulting in migration of estimated one million people from katcha areas to urban areas besides causing rise in highest maximum temperatures by two to three degrees centigrade in cities and towns of Sindh including Karachi, Larkana, Dadu and Nawabshah.

Sindh’s riverine forests have declined to 0.05 million hectares (0.35%), irrigated forests to 0.08 million hectares (0.14%), and mangrove forests to 0.2 million hectares (1.41%). Collectively, the overall forest cover has declined to 1.9% in the province. According to environmental standards, any country, state or province in the world should have at least 25% of forest cover out of its total land area for a better environment, but we are at lowest and alarming level in this regard.

This massive deforestation across Sindh has also caused significant temperature rise in Karachi, which needs immediate remedial measures to tackle warming. This can be achieved by raising urban forests across Karachi region besides planting trees along all roads, streets, grounds and other places.

The federal, provincial and city governments with the support of all stakeholders, including businessmen, industrialists, traders, philanthropists, citizens and all organizations, need to make more and more tree plantation in the city besides taking other remedial measures with their strong coordination while there is also need to get international funding to tackle rising warming in Karachi.