The tragedy is not that the Lyari and Malir rivers have dried up.
The real tragedy has been the encroachment that has been going on in these rivers for decades by calling them rivers and using the rivers connected to them as drainage channels.
All this was possible because the river is called Nadi in the local language here, Sindhi, so the word "Nadi" has become commonplace.
Then, considering the roads and streams of these rivers as empty roads, settlements were established there.
These rivers brought fresh rainwater from the Kherthar mountains and transported it to the sea.
These are the natural paths of the mountain rivers.
Roads, communities and all kinds of interventions were made in their path. Millions of truckloads of sand and gravel were taken from the Malir River and Karachi was transformed into a dense jungle of cement concrete.
As a result, the water of this river now flows in the form of a rapid relay instead of remaining in it.
So, due to the destruction of the ecosystem of the Malir River, the gardens and fields of the Malir have dried up on it and new communities have been built on these lands.
Now, when the water finds its way through these rivers and streams, it will flow through its narrow paths.
Media people and TV channels remain silent during the occupations of these rivers.
On the contrary, when there is an operation against the encroachments there, they conduct live broadcasts with cameras and microphones to portray the occupiers as oppressed and to become their voice.
These media institutions remain the paid lawyers of the influential squatters behind these settlements and print/publish giant advertisements for their fake housing associations.
Then, when the water of these rivers emerges from these occupations in search of its own path, the media is told the song of swollen rivers and canals.
If it rains a little, the mournful songs "I'm drowning, I'm not drowning yet" begin.
For decades, every government, party, department and institution has been responsible for these violations.
These rivers and streams will continue to flow until the waterways are empty.
Your cameras and mournful songs will not be able to stop them.
0 Comments