6/22/2016

RidingthewaveNewspaperDAWN.COM

Riding the wave

HAJRAH MUMTAZ PUBLISHED 2 DAYS AGO

The writer is a member of staff.

TWO years ago this summer, on the two holidays following

Eidul Fitr, Karachiites, as is usual for summer holidays and
weekends, flocked to the several open-access beaches
located not too far from them. In this city of upwards of 18
million people, outdoor entertainment opportunities are few;
the beaches are often visited by hundreds of thousands of
people at a time.
It is perhaps a measure of Karachis bad karma that the
season when one most wants to go to the beach when
homes and offices are stifling and the electricity supply is
intermittent is also the one when the tides are at their
most treacherous. The monsoon system causes the otherwise
relatively placid waters on the shores of this part of the
Indian Ocean to rise up with no little degree of violence.
So it is that every year, the city loses a few lives to the waters.
Lifeguards or policemen patrolling the beaches even the
Sea View strip that is half an hour from most parts of the city
and a central feature of the affluent area of town are
woefully few in number; their inadequate training,
equipment and remuneration made all the more glaring
when they face a flood of humanity. On its part, the citizenry
tends to be strongly averse to any form of policing or

http://www.dawn.com/news/1265968/ridingthewave/print

1/4

6/22/2016

RidingthewaveNewspaperDAWN.COM

tends to be strongly averse to any form of policing or

discipline, even it is for its own good.
Apart from obduracy, there is another, fairly significant,
reason to be found for this heedlessness. For the majority,
getting to the beach is neither easy nor particularly
affordable. This is a country where outings are few and
families large; public transport is abysmal and, in any case,
scarce on Sundays. And few have relatively easy access to a
vehicle; if they do, it is overwhelmingly a motorcycle.
Accordingly, a trip to the beach is something planned days,
even weeks, in advance. People pool their resources and rent
or otherwise press into service buses and coaches, rickshaws
and ancient four-wheelers. Apart from the travel, there is a
large quantity of food and drink to be arranged; biryani,
thanda and ice enough for everyone.

The monsoons are upon us and the waters are

treacherous.
For many families, it is a once or twice a year excursion,
eagerly anticipated and fondly remembered. No wonder,
then, that people are inclined to be a little more careless in
their fun, a little more resentful at having their day cut down
to anything less than they had hoped for.
After the 2014 Eidul Fitr holidays, once the city machinery
swung ponderously back into action, an appalling figure
emerged: some two dozen people had drowned in the
monsoon tides over those holidays, most of them at Sea
View.
The reaction was immediate and, while deeply problematic, it
was certainly effective. Using Section 144, the city
administration banned swimming in the sea. Law
http://www.dawn.com/news/1265968/ridingthewave/print

2/4

6/22/2016

administration bannedRidingthewaveNewspaperDAWN.COM
swimming in the sea. Law
enforcement, aware that it would be unable to curb the
energies of large numbers of people on the sand, set up road
blocks to prevent people from getting to the beaches at all.
On the weekends that followed, untold numbers of people
were unceremoniously turned back.
The ban was eventually lifted, but by then the prime beach
season was over. Then, last year, at around the same time, a
ban was initially imposed during the Eid holidays which
extended for six months. It wasnt enforced; I was a regular
visitor at Hawkesbay beach. But stopping persons such as
myself had never been the point.
Now, the monsoons are upon us again. The Eid holidays are
approaching, and the waters are already rough. Is the city administration doing anything to prevent the loss of life? Not
so far, apparently.
The Sea View beach sprouted a few new guard towers last
year, but there are no greater numbers of city-employed
lifeguards to be spotted. I havent come across any news of
greater investment in safety infrastructure on the sands. And
if the problem is an undereducated citizenry, where is the
drive to increase their knowledge of the risks during the
monsoons?
Further, it is worthy of notice that the majority of drowning
deaths took place at Sea View, which had until 2014 followed
the general pattern of one or two or three. But recent years
have seen much development near the sea in this part of
town, from land reclamation projects to the construction of a
massive high-rise building. Even as a layperson, I know that
changing the shape of the seashore can alter the way the
waters behave. Before resorting to bans that make poorer the
quality of the average citizens life, the administration needs
to produce research that proves that this was not a selfcreated problem.

http://www.dawn.com/news/1265968/ridingthewave/print

3/4

6/22/2016

RidingthewaveNewspaperDAWN.COM

It is a lament oft heard in this country for once, can

something be done before tragedy occurs and a ban is
imposed? Can we learn to ride the wave rather than always be
engulfed by it?
The writer is a member of sta .
hajrahmumtaz@gmail.com
Published in Dawn, June 20th, 2016

TODAY ON IMAGES
OOOO

Udta Punjab gets

A certicate in
Pakistan after
numerous cuts

Salman Khan
ordered to
apologise for
'raped woman'
comment

http://www.dawn.com/news/1265968/ridingthewave/print

4/4