The bustling city also had a traffic problem. Because of the number of carts and carriages on the streets, the roads had to be paved with gravel chippings (which was a refinement ahead of its time even before London). Municipal bullock carts used to water the city streets daily to keep the dust from flying around. Carriage horses wore straw hats to avoid sunstroke and were provided drinking water from troughs placed at various locations in the city by the philanthropic "Drinking Trough Society of Karachi". In 1900, a public tram service was introduced which commenced from Sadder cantonment and went up to the harbour at Kiamari.
THE 1910'sBy 1914, Karachi had become the largest grain exporting port of the British Empire. A new building for the Karachi Port Trust was constructed in 1915 which was converted into a 500 bed military hospital just a month after its opening due to the outbreak of the first World War (1914-1918). Karachi nevertheless benefited even during the war-time period, and after the end of the Great War, a number of manufacturing and service industries were installed at Karachi.
THE 1920's
In 1924, an aerodrome was built and Karachi became the main airport of entry to India. The British Government also developed an Imperial Airship Communications Scheme in the 1920's, which was a plan to have a fleet of large dirigibles providing mail and passenger service to far-flung portions of the Empire. To this effect, mooring masts were constructed at Cardington in England, St. Hubert in Canada, Ismailia in Egypt, and Karachi, which was chosen to be the main terminal for India. A site was located outside Karachi and construction of an airship mast, hangar and a hydrogen plant was begun in 1927. Although, this program was cancelled after the destruction of the Airship R 101 in 1930 with great loss of life, the shed and the mast remained as impressive relics of the plan till well after Pakistan's independence. They were later dismantled and the steel was used for buildings and bridges along the Pakistan Railways. The site later became the international airport at Karachi.
THE 1930's
With the opening of the Sukker Barrage in Northern Sindh in 1932, the city saw another boom. After the separation of the province of Sindh from the Bombay presidency in 1936, Karachi was made the capital of the province. Foundation was laid for the construction of the Karachi Municipal Corporation building to house the municipal workings and offices of the new provincial capital.
THE 1940's and ONWARDS
The two major events of the 1940's were the second World War and the freedom struggle for Indian Independence. In 1947, independence was finally granted to the subcontinent and Pakistan came into being as a new country made by the partition of British India. Karachi became the capital city and premier port of the newly formed state. It was the most built up city in Pakistan at the time and accommodated a huge influx of migrants to the newly formed state, which made it expand at a rapid rate. Pakistan's first civil and military bureaucracy was housed in the city and Karachi served as the capital city of Pakistan until 1958 when a new capital was made at Islamabad.
Afterwards, the city went through a period of governmental neglect and ethnic strife that greatly marred its character. Also, rampant commercialization, rejection of the past, lack of knowledge and disregard of its heritage largely resulted in the loss of its past in the mists of time. The city took on a very different character but the spirit of Karachi always lived on. Currently, Karachi is Pakistan's largest city and its financial and economic center. It still retains a diverse mix of people, its inhabitants hailing from all corners of Pakistan, India and other countries. The Karachi port continues to handle a major volume of Pakistani and Central Asian trade and the city that was once a village still keeps on growing at a phenomenal rate accommodating people well past the capacity of its creaking infrastructure. Currently it is counted as one of the world's biggest cities. Fortunately, after a long period of neglect, the City District Government of Karachi under the direction of President Musharraf has finally embarked on an ambitious plan to revitalize Karachi, and it holds big promise for the 'City by the Sea' in the future.
By:
FAISAL HAFEEZ KHAN
