Rain-related trade losses reach Rs 30 million

Trade and business on Monday struggled to retrieve from the last weekend of torrential downpour as the choked drainage system continued to boil and stink, sludge floated and stagnant rainwater hampered pedestrian movement nearly in the city's every market, traders said.
The financial loss, which the heavy rains inflicted on traders, reached about Rs 300 million as rain-sensitive products including paper, chipsboards, furniture, foam, cloths, foods items, machinery parts, cosmetics, books, etc, were badly damaged or perished stored in shops and warehouses.
Traders lamented trade losses and blamed the civic administration for not acting to flush out the accumulated rainwater and clear the sewerage system. They said muddy water spread bad smell in the markets and rainwater was feared to generate diseases and block public movement visiting the markets.
"Several markets could not resume activity due to accumulated rainwater and electricity cuts in spells of rains and after, which have baldy scaled down the sales," said President of All Karachi Tajir Ittehad, Muhammad Atiq. He said since Eid-ul Fitr holidays, the sales and business conditions were worse than they were in violence, as rain and power outages both contributed to keep the buyers away from the shopping centres.
"Nearly 70 percent of business activity remained down either for electricity faults or cuts. However, in both ways it hurt the traders' financial interests," he added. He criticised the civic administration for remaining away from its responsibilities to facilitate the citizens during such situation.
Markets where activities could not fully resume included, almost all markets of old city area, Urdu Bazaar, Sarrafa Bazaar of Saddar, Jodia Bazaar, Bolton Market, Grain Market, Cloth Market, Garden Market, Methadar and Kharadar Markets etc, Atiq said.
He said that financial loss from rain-hit products had reached Rs 300 million, as the rainwater flew fast into the warehouse and shops located downstream of roads in the different parts of the city, damaging the several kinds of products that evening. Atiq linked the restoration of business and trade activities to the brisk action of civic administration to cleanse the markets of dirt and stagnant rainwater. He said the trade activities fall should be blamed on the inactive administration lacking will and expertise to perform its share of responsibilities in crisis.