Rumors and conspiracies in Karachi.
Daily Times - Leading News Resource of Pakistan
The day the Hub Dam broke
By Andaleeb Rizvi
KARACHI: The rumours of the Hub Dams breaking have been circulating since earlier this week and adding to the woes of the underprivileged and daily wage earners living in Manghopir.
I was sleeping when I received a call advising me to evacuate my house and move in with my relatives atop the Manghopir Hills. I was told the Hub Dam had broken because of heavy flooding and the water might reach our abadi (settlement) anytime, a Pakhtun taxi driver named Muhammad Zahir told Daily Times.
Zahir, who hails from District Shangla (Swat) and is living in Manghopir, said many people had left their homes and climbed the hills surrounding the area because they feared getting caught in the gushing waters.
Considering the situation, it is better to send my children back to the village. I am also thinking of finding work in Haripur or Abbottabad as it is not safe here anymore, he added.
Qari Anwar, a local who lives atop the hills, said his house was packed with relatives, while hundreds of men, women and children on the streets were keeping a vigilant eye for fear that the houses they abandoned in a hurry were vandalised.
Many Pakhtuns were apprehensive that the rumour of the Hub Dams breaking was spread to make them leave the area, so their houses and possessions could be looted and set ablaze, he added.
A Pakhtun doctor said groups of marauders targeted whomever they pleased in the streets as they could not access the higher ground.
I had to run my clinic without electricity for at least seven days in Qasba because the transformer was damaged during violence. Despite the presence of Rangers personnel in the vicinity, the Karachi Electric Supply Company refused to set foot in the area to repair the transformer, he added.
Our neighbourhood is inhabited by people from different ethnic backgrounds, but mostly, the Pakhtuns live on the hills, while the Urdu-speaking reside in the foothills. In case of evacuation, it was obvious we would run for the hills, leaving the Urdu-speaking to take advantage of the situation, he said.
An analyst said amid the ethnic violence, growing incidents of targeted killings and clashes between these two communities, it was understandable for them to be suspicious of each other.
There is a definite need for the various stakeholders, representatives and locals to sort out these matters without waiting for political parties to intervene, she added.