Pakistani woman wins ‘visionary’ prize mapping growing pains of Karachi, a megacity in flux

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Updated 26 April 2023
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Pakistani woman wins ‘visionary’ prize mapping growing pains of Karachi, a megacity in flux

  • Namra Khalid’s Karachi Cartography has created a repository of maps to chart Karachi’s evolution and its climate impacts
  • Karachi is 30 times larger than it was at end of World War II, has experienced mass migrations and explosive population growth

KARACHI: When Namra Khalid returned to her hometown, the southern Pakistani port city of Karachi, in 2020 after completing a degree in architectural design from the United States, the metropolis was experiencing one of the worst cases of urban flooding in its history following record-breaking rains.

While rains are common in many parts of Pakistan during the monsoon season, the seaside metropolis of Karachi, the most populous city in the country, received 484 millimeters of rain in 2020, the highest since 1931, according to the Pakistan Meteorological Department. The flooding killed 41 people and caused widespread infrastructural damages as well as hours-long traffic jams that disrupted the lives of over 15 million Karachi residents.

To make matters worse, the record rains came just a few years after a severe heat wave killed more than 2,000 people in the city and other areas of the Sindh province.

Both extreme weather events compelled Khalid, 25, to contemplate Karachi’s fast descent into becoming unlivable, and two years later, she established Karachi Cartography to create a climate map of the city. In recognition of her work, Khalid was chosen as one of the three winners of the 2023 Young Climate Prize, in the Visionary category, by Around The World and received the award at the Guggenheim Museum in New York on Saturday, April 22.

“I was always interested in how climate change was changing the world in general, and also Karachi,” Khalid told Arab News in an interview in Karachi ahead of winning her award.

She said the people of Karachi were for years used to heatwaves and to even a small amount of rain blocking roads and creating chaos in the port city.

“But it was nothing compared to what is happening now. Now there's rain, and then all of Karachi is pretty much under water for sometimes even months,” Khalid said. “So, I wanted to know what is causing this and I decided to map out the socio-climatic evolution of the city.”

The architectural designer turned urban researcher began by looking for old maps of Karachi in Pakistani libraries and archives, and quickly realized that they were either unavailable or inaccessible due to lack of digitization.

“Then there was another issue that a lot of our maps are still disputed colonial property, they're either in India, or they're in the UK,” Khalid said.

Realizing that many maps might be part of people’s private collections or hanging in drawing rooms as pieces of decoration, Khalid decided to make an Instagram page as an “open call” for people to share whatever maps they owned. 

To her surprise, she received about 200 maps, some from as far back as the 1700s.

“And then we start figuring out, ‘Oh, this is how this thing changed and that thing changed,’” she said. “So, there’s a huge difference, and that’s causing issues.”

Indeed, Karachi is 30 times larger now than it was at the end of World War II and has experienced mass migrations and explosive population growth, which comes with its growing pains, as Khalid discovered.

When the partition of British India took place in 1947, Karachi was a colonial port city of about 400,000 people. It has now grown into a crowded, industrial, polluted city of more than 15 million people, with some estimates putting the population at around 20 million.

Most of the growth, Khalid explained, had been “unplanned” and took place without any eye to its climate impacts. But why use old maps?

“I think one of the biggest mistakes that we make as urban planners, as designers in the city, is that we start creating solutions right there and then without figuring out the problem,” Khalid said. “Maps tell you what went wrong.”

And that’s the aim of Karachi Cartography, the designer explained: to put all the maps of Karachi, “from India to London to Czechoslovakia … together in one repository of maps.”

“And the next thing we're doing is using this information to chart the evolution of the entire city.”

According to the National Institute of Oceanography, Karachi, officially the 12th most populous city in the world, is set to be submerged in water by 2060, or less than 37 years. Karachi Cartography, which now has 13 team members and 100 collaborators, aims to design and implement strategies for adaptation and resilience.

“Around 62.2 percent of Karachi’s population lies in the extremely vulnerable [area], the rest are also vulnerable, so it is necessary that we start bringing some change today,” Khalid said.

“Otherwise, we will be in a huge problem … It’s absolutely necessary, it’s absolutely necessary that authorities, common citizens, everyone at this point work together because it’s a huge task to save a city as big as ours.”


Pakistan PM directs task force to propose budget plan for low-cost housing

Updated 21 May 2025
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Pakistan PM directs task force to propose budget plan for low-cost housing

  • Pakistan faces a housing crisis, with the shortage particularly acute in urban areas
  • PM says ahead of the budget low-cost housing is his administration’s top priority

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said on Wednesday his administration is prioritizing the development of low-cost housing while directing a task force to present financing recommendations to include the facility in the upcoming budget.

Pakistan has been facing a housing crisis, with the World Bank suggesting two years ago it was short of an estimated 10 million housing units. The shortage is particularly acute in urban areas due to rapid population growth, unregulated expansion and high land and construction prices.

The federal budget, which will be presented to the National Assembly next month, is expected to outline measures to tackle the crisis as the new fiscal year begins in July.

“The government’s foremost priority is to facilitate access to housing through low-cost schemes,” Sharif said during a task force meeting to address the issue.

“Such projects will not only make residential units accessible to the common man but also stimulate economic growth and create employment opportunities,” he continued.

The prime minister instructed the task force to work with the finance ministry and banks to prepare detailed financing proposals for affordable housing, with the aim of making them part of the upcoming budget.

He also emphasized that developing the construction sector was key to sustainable economic growth.

Officials briefed the prime minister on ongoing reforms to the Condominium Act 2025 and Foreclosure Law, saying they were in their final stages and were expected to ease access to housing loans under the new schemes.


Pakistan says India using ‘terrorism’ as foreign policy tool after school bus attack in Balochistan

Updated 21 May 2025
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Pakistan says India using ‘terrorism’ as foreign policy tool after school bus attack in Balochistan

  • New Delhi rejects Pakistan’s allegation, calls it an attempt to deflect responsibility for internal failures
  • PM Sharif visits Balochistan after school bus bombing kills three children, leaves eight critically wounded

KARACHI: Pakistan urged the international community on Wednesday to condemn what it called India’s use of “terrorism” as a foreign policy tool, after a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device targeted a school bus in the southwestern Balochistan province, killing at least three children and injuring 39 others, including eight critically.

Balochistan, Pakistan’s largest province by landmass and rich in mineral resources, has long faced an insurgency led by separatist groups who accuse Islamabad of exploiting local resources while neglecting the population. The government denies the claims, citing investments in health, education and infrastructure.

In recent months, the insurgency has intensified, with groups like the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) carrying out high-casualty attacks on civilians and security forces, including taking hostages at a passenger train. Pakistan says it has evidence linking India to these attacks, though New Delhi has denied involvement and distanced itself from the Khuzdar school bombing.

However, Islamabad described the attack as a “sequel” to India’s missile and drone strikes earlier this month, accusing New Delhi of deploying militant proxies to destabilize the country, as Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Field Marshal Asim Munir visited the region to meet injured children in hospital.

“These terrorist groups — masquerading under ethnic pretenses — are not only being exploited by India as instruments of state policy, but also stand as a stain on the honor and values of the Baloch and Pashtun people, who have long rejected violence and extremism,” said a statement issued by the PM Office after Sharif’s visit to Quetta.

Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Field Marshal Asim Munir being briefed on the Khuzdar school bus attack, in Quetta on May 21, 2025. (Photo courtesy: Handout/PMO)

“India’s reliance on such morally indefensible tactics, particularly the deliberate targeting of children, demands urgent attention from the international community,” it added. “The use of terrorism as a tool of foreign policy must be unequivocally condemned and confronted.”

The prime minister and the accompanying delegation was briefed by Balochistan’s Chief Minister Sardar Sarfraz Bugti and local military officials on the attack, which also killed two soldiers and injured 53 people in total.

The official statement said Pakistan’s security forces and law enforcement agencies “will relentlessly pursue all those involved in this barbaric act,” vowing to bring “the architects, abettors and enablers of this crime” to justice.

It added the incident had exposed India’s “cunning role” to the world, revealing how it orchestrated militant violence while simultaneously portraying itself as a victim.

 

 

India’s Ministry of External Affairs earlier in the day rejected Pakistan’s allegations, describing them as Islamabad’s attempt to deflect responsibility for its own failings and internal issues.

The latest attack follows a brief military standoff between the two countries earlier this month, which ended in a ceasefire on May 10.

While hostilities along the border have subsided, both sides continue to trade diplomatic barbs, accusing each other of sponsoring terrorism and destabilizing the region.

School bus targeted in a suicide blast in pictured in Pakistan's southwestern Khuzdar district on May 21, 2025. (Jawad Yousafzai)

The attack in Khuzdar, which targeted children en route to an army-run school, was condemned by US Chargé d’Affaires Natalie Baker and UNICEF in separate statements.

It was also reminiscent of one of the deadliest militant attacks in Pakistan’s history when over 130 children were killed in a military school in the northern city of Peshawar in 2014. That attack was claimed by the Pakistani Taliban group.


India expels second Pakistani diplomat amid ongoing tensions

Updated 21 May 2025
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India expels second Pakistani diplomat amid ongoing tensions

  • India declares Pakistani diplomat persona non grata, orders him to leave the country within 24 hours
  • India expelled another Pakistani diplomat on May 13, prompting a tit-for-tat response from Islamabad

ISLAMABAD: India has expelled a second Pakistani diplomat within ten days, declaring him persona non grata for activities “not in keeping with his official status,” the external affairs ministry in New Delhi announced on Wednesday.

The move comes amid heightened tensions between the two countries following a military standoff earlier this month. Despite a ceasefire agreement reached on May 10, diplomatic relations between the nuclear-armed neighbors remain strained.

“The Government of India has declared a Pakistani official, working at the Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi, persona non grata for indulging in activities not in keeping with his official status in India,” the Indian ministry said in its statement.

“The official has been asked to leave India within 24 hours,” it added.

This is the second such expulsion in recent weeks. On May 13, India expelled a Pakistani diplomat on similar grounds. In response, Pakistan declared an Indian High Commission staffer in Islamabad persona non grata.

The Indian ministry also summoned the Charge d’Affaires of the Pakistan High Commission to issue a demarche, emphasizing that Pakistani diplomats must not “misuse their privileges and status in any manner.”

As of now, Pakistan’s foreign office has not responded to the latest development.


Pakistan’s health minister assures Palestinian counterpart of medical support

Updated 21 May 2025
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Pakistan’s health minister assures Palestinian counterpart of medical support

  • Syed Mustafa Kamal meets Dr. Maged Abu Ramadan at the World Health Assembly in Switzerland
  • Israel has repeatedly targeted hospitals and health workers in Gaza, causing international concern

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s health minister Syed Mustafa Kamal informed his Palestinian counterpart that a framework has been developed to provide medical assistance to the people of Gaza, according to an official statement on Wednesday, during a meeting on the sidelines of the 78th World Health Assembly in Switzerland.

Kamal’s meeting with the Palestinian health minister, Dr. Maged Awni Muhammad Abu Ramadan, took place at a time when Israeli forces have repeatedly targeted hospitals and health facilities in Gaza, crippling the enclave’s health care system.

Israeli attacks have also led to international concern over violations of humanitarian norms in the war-torn Palestinian territory.

“We stand with our Palestinian brothers and will provide all possible medical support to heal their wounds,” the health ministry quoted Kamal as saying.

He strongly condemned Israel’s targeting of hospitals and health care workers, urging the international community to take concrete action to end the atrocities against Palestinians, including women and children.

“The brutality and oppression must stop,” he was quoted as saying. “The world must hold Israel accountable.”

Earlier this week, Pakistan condemned Israel’s targeting of hospitals in Gaza and described its announcement of taking control of the entire Palestinian territory as a “grave threat” to regional peace.

The remarks by the Pakistani foreign office came after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared his government wanted to take control of the Gaza Strip.


Pakistani military blames ‘Indian-sponsored’ militants for children’s death in northwest this week

Updated 21 May 2025
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Pakistani military blames ‘Indian-sponsored’ militants for children’s death in northwest this week

  • Protests broke out in North Waziristan after a suspected drone strike reportedly led to the killings of four children
  • The military says initial investigations have revealed the incident was carried out by ‘Fitna Al Khwarij’ militants

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s military on Wednesday denied responsibility for the death of four children in North Waziristan earlier this week, attributing the incident to a proscribed militant network which it said was operating on “the behest of their Indian masters.”

The incident occurred on May 19 in the Hurmuz village of Mir Ali tehsil, where a suspected drone strike reportedly led to the death of four children from the same family and injuries to five others, including a woman.

The tragedy sparked protests in the area, with locals staging a sit-in and refusing to bury the deceased until authorities provided clarity on the incident and ensured accountability for the loss of innocent lives.

In a statement released on Wednesday, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the military’s media wing, dismissed allegations implicating Pakistan’s security forces in the strike, labeling the accusations as “entirely baseless” and part of a “coordinated disinformation campaign” aimed at discrediting the military’s counterterrorism efforts.

“Initial findings have established that this heinous act has been orchestrated and executed by Indian-sponsored Fitna Al Khwarij,” the statement said, using a term commonly employed by Pakistani authorities to describe extremist factions like the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).

The term “khwarij” is rooted in early Islamic history and refers to an extremist sect that declared other Muslims apostates.

“It is evident that these elements — acting at the behest of their Indian Masters — continue to exploit civilian areas and vulnerable populations as shields to conduct their reprehensible acts of terrorism,” the statement added. “Such tactics aims to unsuccessfully sow discord between the local population and the security forces, who together remain resolute to uproot the menace of terrorism.”

The military also reaffirmed its commitment to bringing the perpetrators to justice, emphasizing its ongoing efforts to combat militant violence in the region.