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by ripe·4y ago·view on hn ↗
Sorry, I should have clarified what I meant. (I think a sister comment did clarify, but to expand on it):

Mumbai has a reputation as "a city that works". When I was growing up in India, in the 1980s, the entire country was not only poor, but also dysfunctional in terms of infrastructure: electricity, sewage, basic utilities, all unreliable or nonexistent. Whereas Mumbai famously rarely seemed to have blackouts or similar problems. Sure, the buildings looked unpainted and shabby, and the city had lots of problems including crime and extreme poverty, but the basic wheels of the machine were sound. The trains, buses, supply chains, police force, everything was miles ahead of the rest of the country.

Even today, despite tremendous migration of poor people into the city looking for opportunities, business still somehow manages to work. (The rest of the country has improved a lot, too, of course). In Mumbai, you can get things done for the most part without having to break the law or bribe people.

The article at the top of this thread describes Karachi, which is a similar-sized city, as a post-apocalyptic nightmare, with neighborhood-by-neighborhood gang control, violence, armed kidnappings, constant terror threats, unpredictable shutdowns, and generally an environment where you can't really plan any sort of business. A far cry from Mumbai. That's what I meant.

I've never been to Karachi, but I have heard similar stories from other sources, so it does seem like a terrible place to live right now. I feel for the people who are forced to deal with the stress and fear. Hugs