March 11, 2008	Tuesday	Rabi-ul-Awwal 2, 1429

KARACHI, March 10: Although Lyari has been victim of long drawn gang warfare for long, there has been a somewhat breakdown of law and order since the Feb 18 election.

Intermittent firing by members of rival gangs has become the order of the day resulting in the closure of businesses and an atmosphere of fear and terror in a number of localities. People are even afraid of leaving their homes and are forced to keep their children indoors particularly in Shah Beg Lane UC areas.

According to area people, the gangsters are having a field day due to the absence of law-enforcement personnel in the affected areas. Incidents of snatching of cellphones, wallets and looting of passengers have become a matter of routine.

According to a survey, most of the cases go unreported as the victims feel that the law-enforces cannot provide them any relief.

People said that the performance of the political leadership had also been very disappointing in this regard. A newly-elected provincial legislator said that unless power was transferred and the party’s government was formed, they could not play their due role in controlling the situation.

People, especially traders and shopkeepers of the locality, have urged the relevant authorities to deploy Rangers in the area as according to them, the area police have utterly failed to bring the situation under control.