KARACHI, Feb 23: People living in Lea Market and its adjoining areas are living under miserable conditions due to congestion of heavy traffic and roadside illegal structures built by shopkeepers and transporters, a survey of the area shows.
It is observed that encroachers, mainly shopkeepers and transporters, occupy every inch of the passage inside the market, besides footpaths leaving hardly any space for a passer-by.
Frequent traffic jams from dawn to dusk around the market have become a permanent feature and the root cause is obviously encroachments coupled with wrong parking, in most cases by the public transport operators.
Area people have constantly been calling for remedial measures, saying that the air and noise pollution had made their lives extremely miserable.
According to them, despite repeated requests made to the authorities for dismantling the illegal roadside structures and shifting the transport business from the locality, no attention had been paid to their grievances.
They say that contrary to their tall claims of making efforts to contain pollution, the city government has yet to come out for any concrete plan to get the people rid of pollution which has become a serious health hazard.
A medical officer of the Lyari General Hospital claims that the noise level in Lea in Lea Market and its surrounding is as high as 190 decibels as against the tolerable level of 60 to 70 decibels.
He also admits that such a high-level noise pollution could have extremely negative effects on human beings and even cause loss of hearing, increased palpitation, blood pressure, respiratory and stomach related diseases.
Lea market is one of the major commercial centres in the old city area housing a complex of scores of markets for different commodities. Being a junction of upcountry buses and wagons, vehicular traffic in the area is beyond sustainability. In fact, the whole market area has been converted into a major bus terminus. Due to the hectic transport activities, all the roads in the locality are in tatters.
Area people claim the illegal occupation of footpaths and roads by transporters and shopkeepers, vendors has become a thriving business for unscrupulous agents, who obviously can not operate without the connivance of concerned government agencies.
