Karachi: Expressing serious concern over huge losses that Karachi has to sustain every monsoon, Pasban Democratic Party (PDP) Chairman Altaf Shakoor said on Sunday that the costs suffered by the floods are much higher to the costs of reviving the natural waterways that are clogged due to encroachments.Altaf Shakoor said the megacity floods every monsoon because its natural drainage has been systematically blocked. At several places its rivers, nullahs and coastal inlets have been fully or partially encroached upon by roads, real estate, and unplanned settlements. He said Karachi needs an eco-redesign, aimed at reviving its natural flows wherever possible, while adding engineered backups for unavoidable bottlenecks.He asked to clear all sorts of encroachments over the waterways with relocation plus compensation for the affectees, not just forced evictions. He asked to restore floodplains and buffers. He said no new permanent structures be allowed in these zones, but instead to turn them into linear parks o r sports fields that can flood temporarily without damage. He asked to learn from floodable parks of Rotterdam designed to collect excess rainwater without disrupting city life.He said to save rainwater it needs to build underground storm water tanks. These large detention tanks under intersections or open grounds will help to temporarily hold excess rainwater.He asked for data, mapping, and early warning systems, stressing a hydrological mapping of Karachi to map old waterways, current choke points, and encroachment zones using satellite imagery.Criticizing the provincial government of Sindh and local government in Karachi for corruption, he asked for improving their governance level. He called for a single drainage authority to end the overlap between KMC, DMCs, cantonments, and provincial bodies. He asked to create one Karachi Storm water Authority with legal power to enforce clearance.Altaf Shakoor said Karachi's flooding isn't inevitable; it's a design failure that can be corrected if the natural waterways are respected and supported by smart infrastructure.He reminded us that flood damage costs are much higher than drainage restoration costs. He said other countries have already successfully implemented such plans. He said Seoul's Cheonggyecheon stream restoration, water parks of Rotterdam and China's 'sponge cities' are living proof that this is doable.Stressing that prevention is cheaper than repair, he said the government would save much more than its spending on reclaiming the occupied natural waterways as it would prevent huge losses to life and property during every rainy season.