KARACHI, the country’s financial hub, has been crippled by frequent strikes, incidents of terrorism and worsening security situation. This has resulted in business losses in billions and hardship for traders, businessmen and their employees.

The largest city of the country and commercial centre of Sindh, sprawling across 3,530 square kilometres, with the highest rate of literacy — over 90 per cent in the central district — employs the largest population in the manufacturing, retail, and services sectors. Any disruption in Karachi directly affects the national economy. One day’s shutter-down strike in the city is estimated to cost a colossal loss of over Rs7 billion.

The most affected are the daily wage earners, whether they are labourers, masons, carpenters or sanitary fitters looking for jobs, fruits and vegetables vendors, rickshaw drivers or porters in Jodia Bazaar and Sabzi Mandi. A majority of workers and labourers who are daily wagers in factories or at construction sites are unable to reach their place of work because of strikes, violence and non-availability of transport.

According to estimates, around 80 per cent of industries remain closed whenever a strike is observed or enforced in the city, paralysing the transport system and shutting down petrol pumps and CNG stations. A few industries, however, venture to keep themselves functional on such days if their labourers manage to reach their workplace.

Muhammad Akram, 40, is a daily wage earner at SITE Industrial Area. He said: “I work in a factory on an average pay of Rs600 per day as a machine operator. I do not receive any wage whenever there is a strike as I am unable to reach the factory due to non-availability of transport. I have five children and my old parents to feed. You can understand the ordeal of a poor daily wage earner in the present situation of escalating prices when he fails to earn one day’s wage,” he moaned.

Ramzan Ali is also a daily wager. He lives in Safura Goth and works in the Korangi Industrial Area as a tool operator. He could not reach the factory last Monday since a sit-in protest was being staged on various locations across the city, coupled with incidents of violence and resultantly, non-availability of transport. “Almost every fortnight the city remains shut for one reason or the other and with that the factories. This deprives me of my daily earnings,” he lamented Ramzan said armed terrorists had held the entire metropolis hostage for two days last Sunday and Monday. Shops, transport, petrol and CNG stations were closed.

The situation continued partly on Tuesday depriving a large number of people of their livelihood, he added.

He said maintaining law and order was the prime responsibility of the government. “However, it apparently looks the present government is not serious or completely helpless in resolving such issues,” he regretted.

Karachi is home to about 18 million people, and has remained disturbed for a long time due to target killings, kidnapping for ransom and militancy. The bhatta and drug mafias, land grabbers and the ongoing war between them have made the lives of the citizens and businessmen miserable. And above all, the Talibanisation of the city has promoted sectarian killings and suicidal blasts.

The city, called mini-Pakistan, hosts a conglomeration of people from all the four provinces, the Federally Administered Tribal Areas, Azad Kashmir and displaced persons from Afghanistan, who come here to do business or seek employment. The recent military operations in Swat, Malakand and other tribal areas have also dispersed the insurgents to various parts of the country, mainly Karachi, who have created law and order situation in the city.