Commercial generators suffocate sellers, customers

Excessive usage of electricity backups in plazas due to load shedding has instigated health issues among shopkeepers

LAHORE:

Even though loadshedding can be considered a shared source of agitation for all citizens, its repercussions are far worse for shopkeepers spending long hours in the confined basements of commercial plazas, where exposure to the fumes of endlessly running generators has left them in a groggy state.

Despite the provincial government announcing planned hours of loadshedding, sudden bouts of power outages across areas in the city have forced owners of big commercial plazas to install multiple high-powered generators outside various shops in the basement area, in order to ward off any negative impact on their business activity. However, where the move might allow buying and selling to continue unaffected, it has deeply impacted the well-being of sellers in the plazas, who are continuously exposed to the toxic fumes of generators, which have adversely impacted their health in several ways.

Zainul Abedin, a 26-year-old salesman working at a cellular shop located in the Hall Road market, contracted an eye infection several weeks ago. “Initially, I thought that the burning in my eye was caused by weather changes, some infection or the heat. But upon getting it examined by a doctor, I came to know that the poisonous smoke from the generators in the basement had irritated my eyes, leading to an infection,” bemoaned Zain, who was advised by his doctor to regularly use eye drops and was given strict instructions to avoid direct exposure to the generators’ smoke at all times.

Apart from Zain, numerous other employees working in the basements of mega plazas in the city, also faced similar health issues due to the round-the-clock operation of generators. In fact, some shopkeepers even revealed that apart from the generators’ fumes impacting their health directly, the piercing noise of the machine was enough to test their nerves.

According to an on-ground report by The Express Tribune, the basements of several commercial wholesale plazas located at Gulberg, Hafeez Center, Shah Alam Market and Shalimar Link Road are filled with the incessant buzzing of smoke sputtering generators, which create a broiling environment for sellers and buyers in the absence of adequate ventilation.

Medical experts expressed their worry for the health of shopkeepers remaining in poorly ventilated basements in the presence of a constantly running generator. “Generators, especially the ones that run on diesel, emit a lot of carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide. Since carbon monoxide is odourless and colourless, an accumulation of the gas in a confined area can kill human beings and animals in no time,” warned Dr Zia-ul-Haq, Head of the Department of Environmental Sciences, at the University of Punjab.

Talking to The Express Tribune on the matter, a focal person of the Judicial Environment Commission said, “At present, the Environment Protection Agency (EPA) Punjab, is trying its best to regulate the usage of both residential and commercial generators. A survey is also being conducted to create a database of the number and types of generators that are in popular use in order to ensure adherence to EPA’s environmental standards.”

Published in The Express Tribune, October 11^th, 2023.