In a first, elites protest outside office of military-run civic body in Pakistan’s Karachi

KARACHI: In a first, hundreds of residents of the Defense Housing Authority (DHA) neighborhood in Pakistan’s port city of Karachi staged a major sit-in outside the head office of the Cantonment Board Clifton (CBC), after torrential rains caused floods to inundate houses and shops in one of the city’s most upscale areas.
The CBC is a civic body which works under the military land department and administers the upmarket areas of Defense and Clifton.
In the sprawling Pakistani metropolis of Karachi, the backbone of the nation’s economy, management of infrastructure and services has been hamstrung by disputes between different levels of government for decades.
A protest group was formed on Sunday night, with hundreds of residents demonstrating on Monday, among them women and children, who called for a “Petition against DHA & CBC.” Inside and outside the CBC offices, enraged protesters held up placards and shouted “Go CBC Go” slogans against the board, demanding the resignation of the CBC CEO and DHA administrator, improvement in the sewerage system and audit of flood relief and development taxes.
Footage from the protest also showed citizens attempting to storm the CBC office before being stopped by police officials.
Karachi has a network of 550 stormwater drains which zig-zag through the city and flow out into the Arabian Sea, but many are obstructed by illegal construction, waste and sludge.
Saqib, a resident of DHA’s Phase-6 area, who only wanted to be identified by his first name, said he had never in the last two decades seen streets flooded the way they had been in the past few days, mostly because of choked drains.
“My basement still has water,” the resident said. “I am now getting black and stinky water and mosquitoes [are flying] all over inside the house,” he added, saying the area had had no power since Thursday.
“We have gathered here because our houses are submerged by water but we have no water and gas,” a woman protester who declined to be named told Arab News.
Muhammad Salman, a resident of DHA Phase-5, said he paid Rs50,000 monthly tax and Rs30,000 to a private water company to get drinking water at his residence.
“The present management of the board cannot be held responsible because this is the outcome of the neglect of three decades,” Salman said.
“You will have to resolve the problem of Karachi to fix the issue of DHA,” Salman added. “Apathy toward Karachi can be seen everywhere. This is the condition of the highest tax paying neighborhood.”