Numb, aching and wet, Malik Zafar, was among hundreds of people who greeted Wednesday’s dawn stranded in their cars on Shahrae Faisal waiting to be rescued after Tuesday’s downpour.
Continuous rainfall in the city left roads inundated, vehicles stranded, and communication systems disrupted, turning the situation into a harrowing ordeal for citizens. Many residents spent the night on Sharea Faisal and other major roads. The government authorities failed to provide any help to the citizens and only announced that the situation was under control across the metropolis, affected commuters told The Express Tribune during a survey on Wednesday.
Working women were among the hardest hit, with hundreds forced to walk for hours to reach their homes.
Talking to The Express Tribune, Malik Zafar, a resident of Nazimabad employed at a private firm in Shireen Jinnah Colony, said he left early due to rain but his car broke down on Sharea Faisal after water entered the engine. “I was in my car trapped in rain water for hours. Hundreds of other vehicles around me were also stuck in the rainwater for engine failures. Communication was disrupted and there was no way to inform the family about where me and other stranded people were. Many people abandoned their vehicles and walked home, but I spent the entire night on Sharea Faisal until cranes and mechanics came to clear the road,” he recalled. He suggested, if the government cannot implement practical emergency measures, it should at least announce holidays in advance of bad weather.
Javed Qureshi, who works at a private office on II Chundrigar Road, said he was unable to find transport to go home in Malir. “I walked up to the Metropole roundabout, and then went back to my office where me and many others spent the night without food and drinking water.”
Tanam Naz, a Punjab Colony resident works in an office in Saddar, said she attempted to walk home but was forced to stay at her sister’s residence in Golimar after several hours of struggling through waterlogged streets. “The city’s infrastructure has collapsed; how can working women be expected to commute under such conditions?” she questioned.
Sultana Kosar, an employee of a Korangi-based company, said that eight women travelling together in a private van were stranded when their vehicle broke down near the National Stadium. “We had no food, no water, and no help from the local administration. It was a frightening experience to walk in groups for hours through flooded streets,” she recalled.
Highlighting the plight of working women, Zahra Khan, Secretary General of the Home-Based Workers Welfare Federation, said, Karachi’s population exceeds 30 million, with an estimated 500,000 women employed across various sectors, with 70 per cent of them being labourers. “Hundreds of women had to walk home late at night, while others stayed with relatives. Employers must provide transport and shelter facilities for women workers during harsh weather conditions,” she stressed.
