ECONOMISTS agree that cities are the primary engines of economic growth. All our development partners have been telling us that, without addressing Karachi’s infrastructure issues, Pakistan cannot achieve its growth targets.

On Aug 29, 2025, this newspaper published my article on how Karachi has been deprived of its rightful share of more than Rs3 trillion since 2010. Had that amount been spent on Karachi, we would not have reached this chaotic situation.

With Karachi’s consistent neglect, Pakistan has been suffering from a low average growth syndrome since 2010. The Prime Minister’s Economic Transformation Agenda and Implementation Plan (2024-29) sets a growth target of six per cent. In the first year of the plan, we achieved only 2.7pc. Pakistan will continue to remain in a low-growth quagmire unless it improves the infrastructure of its growth engine, Karachi, which contributes 50pc of the country’s exports and handles 76pc of its trade. Let’s check one issue that has become critical to its population and industry: water.

Most of us, including our most vocal political leadership, are under the impression that the completion of the Greater Karachi Water Supply Scheme (K-IV) will resolve the city’s water crisis. They are overlooking the fact that the Sindh government has turned K-IV, a water supply project, into a highly complex and insoluble inter-provincial issue. Given the Sindh........

© Dawn