KARACHI: Rain marred business and production activities on Saturday amid power outages and low workers’ turnout due to thin public transport.

Many employees failed to make it to their workplaces while a good number of traders opted to keep their businesses shut.

Industrialists said they missed their export shipments as container trawler operators and truckers could not reach the units and arrival of raw material from ports also remained at a low ebb.

Local retail and wholesale markets and shopping centres also faced heavy trade losses as they had been almost shut since Friday evening.

All Karachi Tajir Ittehad President Atiq Mir claimed that 80-90 per cent market activities remained closed on Saturday. Though some markets were partially open, buyers did not turn up.

He estimated a trade loss of Rs4bn to the business community from Friday evening to Saturday, including damage to finished stocks by rains in godowns and shops, especially in old city areas.

Karachi Wholesalers Grocers Association Chairman Anis Majeed said Dandia Bazaar, the hub of daily trade in essential commodities, remained shut on Saturday causing a loss of Rs1.5bn to Rs2bn as traders and transporters could not reach the market due to standing rain-water on roads and fearing loss while transporting goods in heavy rains.

Haji Shahjehan, the president of Falahi Anjuman Wholesale Vegetable Market of Superhighway, said 60pc trading activities were recorded on Saturday morning as the number of buyers remained low. Arrivals of trucks carrying fruit and vegetables also halved as compared to 1,300-1,400 daily in normal days.

SITE Association of Industry Chairman Mohammad Junaid Makda said workers’ attendance in the morning shift was down 40pc on Saturday. This led to a fall of 50pc in production, besides causing disruption in export activities and delay in shipment to ports.

“Production, export and revenue losses from Friday evening to Saturday morning shift are estimated at Rs500-600 million,” he said, adding that there was no serious issue of power failures in the area but production cycle in the 3,800 units of the industrial area was hit by low workers’ attendance.

However, industries situated near residential areas suffered power breakdowns, he said.

Korangi Association of Trade and Industry President Zahid Saeed estimated Rs150m losses in terms of taxes and duties due to 50pc production drop in view of 40-45pc low workers’ presence. Korangi contributes Rs300m per day in terms of taxes and duties, he said, and added that around 50pc of the area faced power breakdown after rains.

Abdullah Abid, the president of Federal B. Area Association of Trade and Industry, claimed closure of 80pc industrial units on Saturday as industrialists felt they could not run the units at 25pc workforce.

Only those industries were operating which were not labour-intensive. He estimated revenue, production and export losses of Rs80m to Rs100m from the industrial area on Saturday till 6pm.

North Karachi Association of Trade and Industry Chairman Syed Iktida Ali said that some 30-35pc workers and management staffs failed to reach their respective units, thus slightly impacting productivity in the morning shift.

However, he hoped that many industrialists would cover the loss in the evening shift if there were no rains and power breakdowns.

Published in Dawn, August 7th, 2016