His wife fell ill in the night, but Mr. Akbar could not take her to the doctor sooner, the monsoon rains having fallen until the early morning on this megalopolis of 15 million inhabitants located in the south of the country.
“I have only now managed to get out of my house,” he told AFP, his wife wearing a black burqa hiding behind him.
The monsoon, which usually lasts from June to September, is essential for the irrigation of plantations and for replenishing the water resources of the Indian subcontinent. But it also brings its share of drama and destruction each year.
This year, it has already caused a lot of damage in cities where, due to the dilapidation of infrastructure and the lack of public services, the pipes become clogged and the drainage system quickly saturates.
This leads to flooding in lower areas and often in poor neighborhoods.
In Rahim Goth, a slum in western Karachi, residents struggle to scoop water from their homes with buckets. But all their efforts seem in vain, the water being poured into streets still flooded.
This month, 568 mm of rain fell on the city, almost three times the average of recent years and more than four times the precipitation of two decades ago, told AFP Sardar Sarfraz, director Karachi Meteorological Service.
For the defender of the environment Arif Zubair, even if the monsoon has always caused damage, the situation does not stop getting worse and the responsible is obvious: global warming.
“It overwhelmed all of South and Southeast Asia,” he told AFP. “The recent rains are of course an indicator of global climate change.”
– ‘A climate bomb’ –
Pakistan is particularly vulnerable to climate change. It is in 8th position among the countries most threatened by extreme weather phenomena, according to a study by the NGO Germanwatch.
But the effects of global warming are also exacerbated by the negligence of the authorities. Karachi is particularly prone to flooding due to its unbridled expansion, on land ill-suited to urban development.
“We are sitting on a climate bomb,” said Zubair.
More than 300 people have already been killed by the monsoon this year and the rains have also washed away more than 600 km of roads and 50 bridges, according to the National Natural Hazards Management Authority.
More than 10,000 homes were also damaged in the country, the province of Balochistan (southwest) being the most affected, according to the same source.
In Rahim Goth, many residents took refuge on the roofs, stretching a plastic sheet between poles to protect themselves from the incessant rain.
The authorities “come every year to ask us how we are doing, but every year we are lost”, observes Afsari Bano, trying to cook the meal for his family.
She had lost almost everything that belonged to her two years ago in floods, and was just recovering from this disaster.
Now it is surrounded by water polluted by household waste. “Swarms of flies and mosquitoes will follow now,” predicts the 50-year-old housewife.
“If someone dies (…), it is almost impossible to carry out a funeral”, she worries.
