Heavy rain affected business and Industries in Karachi

The monsoon season started in Pakistan and rain is causing disruptions. On July 27, 2010, heavy rain disrupted communications in the country’s industrial hub, Karachi. People could not reach their work places. Meteorologists predicted that there will be more rain in the next two days.

Since it was Shab-e-Barat, markets and shops shut down early in the evening.

Waterlogged roads disrupted the flow of traffic in many areas of the city including MA Jinnah Road, Jamshed Road, Patel Para, Lyari, Baldia Town, Gulshan-e-Iqbal, Nipa Chowrangi, Shahrah-e-Faisal, North Karachi and North Nazimabad.Added with it frequent power outage made city life more miserable.

Business organizations and factories could not operate properly due to low labour attendance. In some places labor attendance dropped up to 50 percent due to low availability of public transport.

The rainfall also affected the railways schedule. Most of the trains were three to four hours behind their schedule.

Salim Parekh, Chairman, Site Association said the there was a decline of 50-60 percent in workers’ attendance on July 27, 2010. At some places, there was water in factory areas. He also said that shipping of containers with export shipments remained suspended.

On the other hand, Razzak Hashim Paracha, Chairman Karongi Association of Trade and Industry (KATI) said that only 20 percent workers could not turn up.

He said that majority of the workers live near industrial area. People who live in far-flung areas could not reach their workplaces.