Despite holiday, Karachi's working class forced into flooded streets to earn bread

As Karachi reels from days of heavy rains and crippling urban flooding, the Sindh government’s decision to announce a public holiday has done little to ease the ordeal of its citizens.

While Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah criticised people for leaving their homes despite warnings to stay indoors, many said they had no choice but to venture out for work.

On II Chundrigar Road — the city’s financial hub — several government offices remained open, forcing employees to report for duty despite waterlogged streets.

The absence of coordination between the federal and provincial governments compounded the confusion, as many federal offices in the metropolis did not announce a holiday. For countless daily wagers, mechanics and labourers, the decision to leave home was not out of defiance but sheer necessity.

“I am a bike mechanic. I am out here because I have to earn my bread and butter,” said a man running a makeshift repair shop on a footpath. “People must be out for work and labour. I, being a mechanic, try to help them and start their bikes.”

A young man, trudging through flooded roads, gave a blunt answer: “People have gone to their respective places for earning money, food, what else?”

The people were out for work despite warnings that Wednesday’s rains would be heavier than Tuesday's — the downpour that brought Karachi to a standstill and forced people to remain stranded on roads for hours.

Daily wagers expressed their helplessness most starkly.

“I am a labourer. Obviously, I can earn only if I work. I can’t get things while sitting home — I’m not rich,” one worker said. Another man lamented that his company, under federal jurisdiction, had refused to close: “When the federal government announces, only then we get off.”

For many, the risk of venturing out into flooded streets was outweighed by the urgency of survival. Citizens said they were not stepping out willingly but were compelled to do so in order to feed their families, with fears mounting over predictions of further downpours today.

Moreover, the death toll from rain-related incidents in Karachi rose to 17 after intermittent downpours battered the city since the day before, with the port city receiving more monsoon showers at night.