{"id":47896,"date":"2023-01-17T00:45:52","date_gmt":"2023-01-17T00:45:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/climatechangenews.com\/?p=47896"},"modified":"2023-01-23T17:01:43","modified_gmt":"2023-01-23T17:01:43","slug":"world-bank-adaptation-funds-slept-through-pakistans-record-flooding","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.climatechangenews.com\/2023\/01\/17\/world-bank-adaptation-funds-slept-through-pakistans-record-flooding\/","title":{"rendered":"World Bank adaptation funds slept through Pakistan\u2019s record flooding"},"content":{"rendered":"

When it was announced, the World Bank\u2019s Solid Waste Emergency and Efficiency Project (Sweep) was touted as one of the lifelines that would help Pakistan\u2019s biggest city, Karachi, with its urban flooding nightmare. But that hasn’t happened.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Flooding returned stronger every year since, upending the city in both 2021 and 2022. \u201cWe never know what kind of damage to expect when it rains,\u201d said Razia Sunny, who lives by one of Karachi’s nullahs<\/em> – narrow channels that drain wastewater from the city to the sea.<\/p>\n

\u201cResidents here have gotten sick because of the waste flooding into our homes during urban flooding, we\u2019ve even had people slip and fall [into the nullahs<\/em>],\u201d Imran Gill, another resident of the informal settlement, told Climate Home News.<\/p>\n

Since 2017, the World Bank has poured millions of dollars into Karachi. The city, population 16 million, is the backbone of Pakistan\u2019s economy. But come monsoon season much of the city is submerged – not least during the extreme flooding<\/a>\u00a0of 2022.<\/p>\n

A major problem is trash clogging the nullahs<\/em>, so stormwater overflows. Sweep was supposed to help by improving solid waste management, but two years into the five-year project, there is no sign of progress. Less than 3% of its $100 million budget has been spent, and none of it on new infrastructure.<\/p>\n

Slum clearance<\/h3>\n

Project officials took the promise of funding as a cue to clear slums alongside the waterways. The provincial authority demolished thousands of homes without, residents say, any consultation or plan to find them somewhere else to live.<\/p>\n

Climate Home reviewed dozens of official documents, interviewed officials inside the projects and visited the sites affected by flooding. In the sites near Karachi\u2019s sewage infrastructure, Climate Home found several cases where residents of informal housing got injured or even died during extreme floods in 2020 and 2022.<\/p>\n

When human rights organisations raised concerns about the demolitions, the World Bank distanced itself from the project.<\/p>\n

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The Sweep project should have executed millions of US dollars (green line) by 2022, but the actual disbursed amount (in blue) was much lower (Photo: World Bank Implementation Status & Results Report Dec. 2022)<\/p><\/div>\n

Government officials insist things are not going too badly. \u201cWe\u2019re only delayed by three or fourth months,\u201d Sweep director Zubair Channa said.<\/p>\n

The World Bank seemingly agrees: its project reports in March 2021 and November 2021 declared progress \u201csatisfactory\u201d, even though no work had been completed on the ground. This rating changed to \u201cmoderately satisfactory\u201d for both the June 2022 and December 2022 reports, after further inaction.<\/p>\n

In response to Climate Home’s request for comment, the World Bank defended the project and said the consultancy was “fairly advanced and expected to deliver their outputs soon”.<\/p>\n

“Based on the current schedule, we expect the construction of the waste disposal facility and transfer stations to commence in early 2023,” said the bank’s press office.<\/p>\n

\"A

Karachi’s nullahs carry waste from the city to the sea, and are often surrounded by informal settlements. (Photo: Shakeel Afridi)<\/p><\/div>\n

This is a climate adaptation issue. Global heating “likely increased” the intensity of monsoon rains in 2022, when flooding hit 33 million people across the country, an international group of scientists<\/a> found. More extreme events are expected under a 2C warming scenario.<\/p>\n

The money trail<\/strong><\/h3>\n

So what has happened to the promised funding? The money comes in the form of loans to the provincial government of Sindh.<\/p>\n

Among a few feasibility studies and some operational costs, documents show the authorities have so far spent $91,891 (which at the time was converted to almost PKR 16 million) on furniture. An official source associated with Sweep, who asked not to be named, said the number was too high and seemed out of place.<\/p>\n

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A report of operational costs by the Sweep project shows more than $91,000 spent on furniture. (Photo: Solid Waste Emergency and Efficiency Project – Procurement Plan by Zubair Ahmed Channa)<\/p><\/div>\n

“We\u2019re a poor country; we can\u2019t afford to spend like this on operational costs, not when that money will be paid back by citizens who already can\u2019t afford it,” said architect and urban planner Dr Noman Ahmed, chairperson of Department of Architecture and Planning at the NED University Karachi.<\/p>\n

The Sindh Government’s procurement plan<\/a> earmarks $8 million for equipment ranging from bins to waste collection vehicles. Another $30 million is destined for implementation “works”. This money has yet to be disbursed.<\/p>\n

On all aspects of these expenses, bank oversight is meant to come once the project is concluded. Yet related projects raise red flags.<\/p>\n

In November, the Sindh High Court barred the provincial government from awarding any more contracts under the World Bank\u2019s Competitive and Liveable City of Karachi (Click) project, citing a lack of transparency over where the money was going.<\/p>\n

Fahad Saeed, South Asia and Middle East lead at the policy NGO Climate Analytics, said: \u201cPakistan needs to do some introspection as to why they were unable to tap into the funds that were available. Was their own house in order to access these funds?”<\/p>\n

In 2021, the world\u2019s governments agreed at COP26 to double<\/a> the amount of international adaptation finance by 2025, which stands at around $20 billion per year.<\/p>\n

Why does Karachi flood?<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Decades of neglect in Karachi\u2019s sewage and waste disposal systems created the perfect recipe for flooding in the city. Every year, come monsoon season, the city\u2019s debilitated drainage system clogs and water overflows.<\/p>\n

More than 6 million people in Karachi live in informal settlements, many of which have encroached the city\u2019s nullahs <\/em>\u2013 the riverbeds that carry waste from one end of the city all the way to the sea.<\/p>\n

These populations are the first victims of urban flooding, and also major contributors to the problem.<\/p>\n

\"Residents

Gujjar nullah residents use a community-funded makeshift bridge to get around. The bridge can be torn down at any time by authorities. (Photo: Shakeel Afridi)<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cIn 2019, when the Sindh Government took the issue to the World Bank, we realised that there was a serious requirement to clean the nullahs<\/em> once or twice a year,\u201d Sweep director Channa told Climate Home News.<\/p>\n

After bad urban flooding in 2020, the Sindh Government reached out to the World Bank to speed up the cleaning of nullahs<\/em>. \u201cWe asked to be allowed to work and they agreed, so despite Sweep not having been signed yet work began, and we were to get the money back through retroactive funding,\u201d Channa said.<\/p>\n

The World Bank announced the decision<\/a> to finance these efforts in December 2020, saying they would \u201cimprove solid waste management services in Karachi\u201d and \u201cupgrade critical solid waste infrastructure\u201d. This would help to reduce floods \u201cespecially in vulnerable communities around drainage and waste collection sites.\u201d<\/p>\n

The reality on the ground was different.<\/p>\n

Destroyed homes<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Instead of protecting the vulnerable, the provincial authorities started by bulldozing homes that had been built without planning permission.<\/p>\n

The World Bank denied responsibility. \u201cThere were meetings between civilians and WB officials, who claimed to us that they had never sanctioned any encroachment removal,\u201d Zahid Farooq, senior manager at Karachi\u2019s Urban Resource Centre, told Climate Home.<\/p>\n

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KBT PRESS RELEASE
\nIn their recent correspondence with KBT, World Bank has confirmed that they will neither retroactively nor prospectively finance any nullah cleaning activities because affectees have still not been involved in the rehabilitation process pic.twitter.com\/sk2dqLsl1U<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Karachi Bachao Tehreek (@StopEvictionKHI) July 9, 2021<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n