Tariq Butt, Correspondent

A survey found 9 out of every 10 Karachi residents said the large city was conducive to living but expressed strong concern over a lack of sanitation and high crime rates.

More than 500 people from all over Karachi took part in the poll conducted by Gallup Pakistan which was held from 27 October to 17 November 2020.

Regarding the standard of living question, 94 percent of respondents considered the city ideal for neighbors and 92 percent expressed their own preference for the City of Light.

On the question of overall living standards, 87 percent of Karachi people said the city was conducive, 84 percent said the same for educating their children. As many as 75 percent indicated their preference for spending their life after retiring in the city, while 73 percent expressed their preference for Karachi because of better job opportunities.

17% said Ocean View was their favorite spot in the City of Lights.

Nearly every nine out of ten residents of Karachi, ie 91 percent of respondents, expressed deep concern over sanitation and the lack of adequate arrangements for waste disposal and related problems.

As many as 81 percent of respondents complained about the high crime rate. 64 percent of survey agencies complained about the lack of adequate street lights, 62 percent because of poor traffic management, 53 percent complained about the unavailability of public transportation, 47 percent complained about inadequate health infrastructure, 46 percent worried about the lack of adequate number of parks in the area. cities, 40 percent complained of an inadequate number of fire tenders with firefighters, 37 percent expressed deep concern over the lack of proper academic infrastructure.

As many as 27 percent of Karachi residents cited the lack of availability of drinking water as a major problem. Of these 16 percent of respondents thought unemployment was worrying, 11 percent were dissatisfied with the electricity supply, 8 percent complained about poor road conditions, 4 percent complained about inflation, 4 percent complained about overpopulation, 1 percent expressed concern over fuel shortages and 8 percent of respondents offered opinions vary.

For questions about the three good and bad aspects of the country’s largest metropolitan city, 17 percent of the poll expressed a preference for Sea View, 15 percent cited job opportunities, 10 percent found the city for a number of other reasons.

Regarding the negative aspects of Karachi, 19 percent of respondents don’t like anything in the city at all. As many as 32 percent said they were very uncomfortable with the lack of sanitation and garbage disposal. Likewise, 17 percent felt that they did not like the inadequate supply of electricity, 13 percent felt that poor infrastructure was a source of inconvenience.

View from above the tomb of Quaid-e-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah in Karachi.

Responding to a question about feeling safe and insecure in Karachi in certain scenarios, every 8 out of ten respondents i.e. 82 percent of respondents declared themselves safe in their environment during the day, while 18 percent felt insecure. But at night, 63 percent found themselves safe in their environment, while only 37 percent felt that they were not.

Against a backdrop of violent crime, 60 percent declared themselves unsafe, but 40 percent considered them “safe and protected.” On the issue of crimes against property, 59 percent of pollsters consider themselves unsafe and 41 percent have no such complaint.