Hot, heavy, oppressive, dust-laden, grimy is the weather this October in Karachi - and of course you would rightly retort "but, its always hot and stuffy in October!" It is, I'm sure, but human mind and body is nothing if not forgetful. We simply forget the treacherous heat of last year or last month, and we are incredulous with every passing of year at the turn of the weather.
But, it s a fact, that Karachi, like the rest of the world, is getting warmer, wetter, more unpredictable, and erratic. Karachi is a big city, one of the largest in the world, and 1.6 million people live in it making it sizzle like an oven. Imagine the body heat generated by so many souls? probably enough to power half the city for at least half a day. Just ponder on the number of cars plying the streets, their engines hot heating up the air, and raising the mean temperatures, add to this millions of air conditioners, generators, fridges, other household appliances turning the city air hot and polluted. The city is over-crowded, sweating bodies pressed against each other like sardines in a can. Every where you look there are more people that can be handled or accommodated - be it a public transport bus, a motor-cycle, a car, a street corner, a shop, a home/flat, a signal stop - every which way there are more and more people inhaling the oxygen and giving out carbon dioxide. The landscape is a sea of concrete with very sparse greenery, we just don't have enough trees in Karachi to recycle the air hence the toxic and dirty air we take in and feel lethargic and wiped out at all times.
How can this city be made cleaner, less crowded and a little more green? Who will take the first step - for soon we just might run out of pure oxygen to inhale....
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