KARACHI: More than a month after flames ripped through Gul Plaza, leaving devastation and livelihoods reduced to ashes, relief has finally arrived for nearly 1,000 affected traders with the Sindh cabinet’s approval of a Rs7 billion compensation package, offering some hope of financial recovery to those who lost everything in the deadly blaze.

The Sindh government along with the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC), finalised the estimate of losses incurred by the shopkeepers of Gul Plaza in their trading goods, with the assistance of the Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI), which put the total sum at Rs7 billion.

The officials involved in the process said that the KCCI, right after the government’s nod for compensation, initiated the process and invited claims from traders regarding their losses. The process, they said, was carried out on a fast track basis and in less than three weeks all the claims were verified and the estimates were finalised.

“The government didn’t interfere and made the traders’ body, the KCCI in charge of verifying all the claims and preparing the final estimates,” Mayor Murtaza Wahab told Dawn. “The registration of traders was done in collaboration with the KCCI to ensure transparency and fairness. The KCCI has done its job.

It verified all claims and cross-checked all the figures. All available documents, bank account details and tax returns were examined and the amount of seven billion rupees was finalised as compensation. The cabinet has approved the amount and we will start paying compensation to the affected traders in the next few days.”

KCCI has estimated compensation amount after cross-checking documents, bank accounts, and tax returns of fire-hit shopkeepers

Zubair Motiwala, prominent industrialist and renowned business leader, who oversaw the process on behalf of the KCCI, lauded the government’s efforts and said the compensation process was completed in record time “with 100 per cent satisfaction of all affected traders”.

“There are more than 900 affected traders with around 1,200 shops,” he said. “Many had more than one shop in Gul Plaza. We set up special counters at the chamber’s building, where we received claims from traders and verified them according to set standards.

The compensation ranged from a few hundred thousand rupees to more than Rs10 million for each trader, depending on their losses. This compensation covers the trading goods that the traders lost in the fire.”

Alternative locations

Regarding an alternative location for the shops, Mr Motiwala said the government had already identified a few locations — including Parking Plaza, New Jamia Market and Royal Market where it plans to build business facilities for the traders so they can restart their businesses.

Apart from the compensation for trading goods, the government had already paid Rs500,000 each to 1,153 affected traders as an initial amount to help bridge the gap during the process, he added.

“Along with this immediate relief, the Sindh government has also offered that if any shopkeeper wishes to take a loan, the government will provide up to Rs10 million as an interest-free loan on easy instalments,” said Mr Motiwala.

Mayor Wahab vowed that apart from compensation, the government had also taken emergency steps to provide immediate relief to the affected shopkeepers and has offered free alternative spaces at different locations across the city to enable them to resume business.

“Around 350 affected shopkeepers of Gul Plaza have been provided temporary stalls at the site of Baradari, Bagh-i-Jinnah (former Polo Ground), in the first phase so that they can resume commercial activities,” he said.

He said parking, basement facilities, security arrangements and deployment of police and wardens had been finalised. He added that the government would stand by the affected traders until complete restoration of their businesses.

Published in Dawn, February 26th, 2026