KARACHI: Besides bringing normal life to a halt, two consecutive days of heavy rains in Karachi have severely impacted industrial and business activities across the city , paralyzing domestic production and export consignment shortage.
The financial capital of Pakistan has been receiving incessant rain on Tuesday and Wednesday many factories and offices remained closed for Wednesday. Even those units that were operational, saw heavy absenteeism. Many factories unable to carry out full-fledged production due workers shortage who were unable to report on duty owing heavy rain, urban flooding, road blockages, and transport shortages.
The rains also delayed export shipments as goods carriers were unable to move due to flooded roads and overflowing nullahs.
Karachi: rains cause around Rs15bn trade losses
Shopkeepers across major markets were forced to close their establishments as the adverse conditions made it impossible to operate.
Shops and warehouses, especially in low lying area, were inundated with Rai water and sewerage damaging goods.
Flooded streets, power outages, overflowing sewers, and lack of public transport contributed to the paralysis of economic activity, forcing shopkeepers to close down and leaving many workers unable to reach their workplaces.
Heavy rainfall has also caused severe disruptions for daily wage earners across city, leaving thousands of workers without income. With businesses affected and markets flooded, many labourers who depend on daily wages to support their families returned home without work on Tuesday and Wednesday. Rain also negatively affected delivery by increasing risks of accidents, vehicle malfunction, etc.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2025