Karachi continues to grapple with littered streets and overflowing gutters, a situation attributed to the lack of aggressive action from its large body of elected local government officials, stated Pasban Democratic Party (PDP) Chairman Altaf Shakoor on Sunday.
He asserted that despite citizens electing more than 1,200 local councillors across 246 union committees, the megacity’s fundamental sanitation problems persist, rendering parts of it unlivable.
According to Shakoor, the city of over 20 million people generates between 14,000 to 16,000 tons of solid waste daily, yet complaints regarding uncollected refuse and overflowing sewerage lines are routine across many areas, with resolutions often delayed for weeks or even months.
Shakoor noted the paradox in Karachi’s extensive local government framework, one of the country”s largest, which is intended to bring governance closer to the populace. He lamented that in practice, residents frequently find themselves dealing with distant departments instead of receiving prompt assistance from their own elected representatives.
‘The promise of local government is simple: problems should be solved close to where they occur,’ Shakoor remarked.
He highlighted the stark contrast between the city”s economic output, contributing approximately 60-65 percent of Pakistan’s national revenue, and the inadequate state of basic municipal services in many of its neighbourhoods.
The PDP Chairman argued that the core issue is not a shortage of representatives but a deficit of “active representation.” He stressed that grassroots governance will remain absent until councillors re-establish a connection with their constituencies.
Shakoor urged citizens to hold their local councillors accountable and press them to fulfil their responsibilities, rather than placing their hopes on ministers. He concluded that the problem of inactive councillors is a high-priority issue that must be resolved to restore effective local governance in Pakistan”s largest city.