Talking to Business Recorder, Chairman All Karachi Tajir Ittehad, Muhammad Atiq Mir said the civic management had ignored draining the stagnant rainwater from the markets which had become breeding fields for mosquitoes.

He feared the rising dengue disease had panicked the traders’ community as the virus had shaken different parts of Punjab and some cases had also emerged in Karachi. “It seems the civic administration is waiting for the disease to hit Karachi,” he added.

He said the accumulated rainwater had also created difficulties for the businessmen and had reduced their activities in markets badly, urging the government to take immediate steps to flush out the rainwater to avoid any epidemic disease in the metropolis.

“The markets are places where people from all segments of the society arrive and such disease could become any easy carrier to affect others,” he was of the view and regretted that the civic administration had been negligent to vision the disastrous impact of the virus in the metropolis.

He said there were only three officials available to undertake the cleanliness job in the Saddar town, whereas there were several markets where traders continued to face hardships due to filthy streets.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2011