Torrential rains bring businesses almost to halt

KARACHI: Rains and urban flooding brought industrial production to a standstill in Karachi, which contributes over 55 percent to country’s overall exports, businessmen said on Thursday.

Ikhtiyar Baig of Baig Group of Industries said industrialists and exporters are facing serious logistics problems. “Containers could not reach production sites for export loading, and port activity has also slowed down,” he said.

Baig said almost all the industrial estates were seeing water accumulation, while staff attendance dropped to 20 percent of workforce. “Absence of electricity and fresh water added insult to injury.”

Weak infrastructure could not sustain the heavy rainfalls, leading to urban flooding, wreaking havoc across the city and hampering almost all business activities in the city. Pakistan Apparel Forum Chairman Javed Bilwani said production declined over 60 percent, while raw materials and finished goods stocked in warehouses and basements of the factories were destroyed.

“Of course the exports would be impacted. Units are inundated, labours can’t reach the work, there is no transportation and no electricity,” Bilwani said. The government also feared exports to go down in August as heavy rainfalls imperiled the industrial and business activities and hampered trading activities.

Adviser to Prime Minister of Pakistan for Commerce and Investment Abdul Razak Dawood said export consignments got delayed because of the heavy rains in Karachi. “This will result in lower exports in August,” Dawood said in a tweet. “It appears that because of the heavy rains, particularly in Karachi, our export consignments are being delayed and hence our exports for the month of August may be affected. Any difficulties faced by the exporters may please be brought to the notice of the ministry of commerce.”

Trade deficit narrowed around 15 percent year-on-year to $1.5 billion in the first month of the current fiscal year of 2020/21 as exports bounced back to the positive territory after four months of slump.

Karachi Electronics Dealer Association President Mohammad Rizwan said Karachi businesses generate Rs50 billion revenues every day and when businesses are closed tax collection lowers. All Karachi Tajir Ittehad Chief Atiq Mir said almost all the markets in the city were flooded. “Inventory worth billions of rupees is destroyed.”

Mir said half of the markets couldn’t open because there was either knee-deep water or mud that made it difficult for traders to open their shops. “Even if they had opened, there wouldn’t have been any buyers.”

Shoaib Ashraf of Oil Tankers and Contractors Association said all activity at fuel storages was stopped and there was no transportation of fuel in the city. “There is water everywhere and no electricity, therefore tankers cannot be loaded and moved,” he said. “Once the rain stops, we will start supply, and hopefully there will be no shortage plus there is very little demand.”

The meteorological department’s forecast about light to moderate rain did not come true as heavy showers pounded Karachi for hours on Thursday, flooding roads and underpasses.

A day ago, the Met Office predicted the monsoon rain system weakened and it was likely that the metropolis would be provided with much-needed relief from the torrential rains. President Small Traders Association Mehmood Hamid said all markets were submerged and losses would run into hundreds of millions of rupees.