Industrial activities in all the five industrial units of Karachi remained paralysed on Thursday following Senior Minister Sindh Dr Zulfikar Mirza's statement against MQM Chief Altaf Hussain. The closure of industrial units has been the cause of major loss. The industrial zone had to suffer a loss of Rs 350 million to Rs 400 million on account of this closure.
Fear of firing, burning vehicles and property also gripped people's mind which compelled them to stay at home rather than taking any risk of life by going on duty. A city from where 80 percent of exports of various products are made and generate about 70 percent of the country's total revenue should not be left at the mercy of political groups. Sindh government is doing nothing to ensure peaceful businesses environment for a better economy. However, some industrial units, which remained operative, also worked with depleted staff. Only those units operated which either have their own transport or the workers are living in the vicinity.
Amid panic and sporadic incidents of aerial firing, all major markets, shopping centres, and commercial areas remained closed. Transporters having previous experiences in mind preferred to keep their vehicles off the roads that caused extreme hardships for the citizens.
Naturally, due to the closure of petrol pumps and CNG stations the absence of public and private transport was obvious; majority of the people failed to report on duty in private and government offices as well. Most of the offices, bank branches and industrial units in the city remained closed. In the afternoon, however, some shops in different localities were opened and a few public transport vehicles appeared on roads. Trading at the Fruit and Vegetable Market (New Sabzi Mandi) was also affected due to unavailability of transport.
Movement of export goods from industries to ports, dispatching goods to up country and supply of goods in the markets also remain suspended. The industrialists said that Karachi, from where 80 percent of exports of various products are made, and about 68 percent of the country's total revenue is generated, should not be closed on one or the other pretext as country has already been suffering huge economic problems.