KARACHI:
As citizens visit the country's biggest wholesale medicine market at Denso Hall to buy cures for different diseases for themselves and their loved ones, they encounter other potentially infectious diseases at the market, which sits inundated in sewerage water and accumulated rainwater.
The road behind the wholesale market, dug up for laying new sewerage lines, has also become a headache for vendors and customers alike.
The market is the main source of medicines and surgical items' supply not only within the province but also for Balochistan. However, its deteriorating condition poses a threat to the quality of medicines.
With rainwater and sewerage water still not drained from the roads near the medicine market, commuters have been experiencing severe inconvenience.
"The main road leading to the medicine market has been awaiting the attention of the authorities for the past several months," shared a shopkeeper. "The road was dug for laying a new sewerage line under the project of restoring Denso Hall but the work has not be completed even after four months."
The shopkeepers further lamented that the giant pits in the road had become a safety hazard for citizens as several motorcycles and cars of the citizens ended up stuck in them during the downpours.
The shopkeepers have placed bricks, boxes and planks on the streets as stepping stones for the buyers and sellers to reach their desired shops, as it was impossible for anyone to walk on the flooded streets.
The vendors feared that the miserable state of the wholesale market could affect the supply of medicines to it as well.
The shopkeepers said they had been pleading to the Sindh government to repair the road as soon as possible and drain the stagnant water from the streets.
Improving sanitation
Meanwhile, Sindh Local Government Syed Nasir Hussain Shah had issued orders on Saturday to improve the sanitation situation in the city and other parts of the province after the monsoon rains and Eidul Azha.
"The state of sanitation in the province must be improved and dirt and piles of garbage should be completely cleaned from all districts [of the province]," he had maintained.
He had ordered municipal commissioners and Sindh Solid Waste Management Board officials to supervise the operations.
Moreover, he had warned of strict action against negligent officers.
Published in The Express Tribune, August 17th, 2020.
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