KARACHI: With repair work and renovations under way at one of the busiest Clifton supermarkets, Agha’s, which has been closed for shopping since the huge fire there due to voltage fluctuations on Sunday night (June 28), it was good to learn on a recent visit that their home delivery service was expected to resume in two to three days.

The parking lot which used to be full always by 10am with long queues forming on either side of the disinfecting walkthrough corridor outside has remained pretty much empty for days now. Yes, there are a few cars and SUVs with the odd blonde foreigner or confused local getting out to ask the people working there what had happened. Then they get back into their vehicles, shaking their heads before driving to any of the other supermarkets in the area.

‘We are grateful to the Almighty that there were no injuries or casualties in the incident’

“There aren’t many places here which have fruit, vegetables, dairy stuff, meat, chicken, seafood, pet food, crockery, cutlery, books, magazines, cosmetics, medicines, you name it ... under one roof,” said one returning customer, glad to know that she would be able to order online at least.

Another customer said she was happy shopping at Agha’s because she liked doing her grocery early and everything was fresh and available at the time. “If I visit any other store or supermarket early, I find their deep freezers and refrigerators switched off. The meat or ice cream is thawing because they switch off refrigeration when they pull down the shutters and then it all freezes again to thaw again at night. It is also not good for health. But here they were always on,” she said.

Hidayatullah, of Agha’s Supermarket, who was supervising the repairs, smiled and nodded. “Yes, we would keep our freezers on. Couldn’t let the food get spoiled but then the fire also happened due to the fluctuation when we weren’t around,” he said.

Aman Shah, also of Agha’s, said that they were one of the few supermarkets here strictly abiding by the standard operating procedures. “As usual, we closed the supermarket at 7pm on the fateful day and went home to come back the next morning and found everything burnt down,” he said. “Though it was a shock for our team, we were still grateful to the Almighty that there were no injuries or casualties in the incident,” he added.

The place still had a heady stench of burnt stuff. The workers in the supermarket’s signature red polo shirts were busy pulling out the old steel shelving, all turned into scrap material overnight. There was a shamianah put up for the workers and supervisors outside under which everyone was busy with one thing or another.

“As you can see, we are working tirelessly to reopen as soon as possible but for the time being we are going to start our online delivery service again. So even if you cannot come to shop here in person, there is the option of getting groceries and other things home delivered by us,” said Gul Khan, another employee with the supermarket.

Published in Dawn, July 5th, 2020