Post-long march: Marchers gone, but garbage remains

Offices, shops reopen after almost five days in Blue Area.

ISLAMABAD:

With the departure of the marchers’ caravan, commercial activity picked up pace on Jinnah Avenue on Friday after a five-day lockdown which was clamped on Blue Area. Dr Tahirul Qadri’s followers had settled there for a sit-in against the government.

“I’m feeling liberated today while moving around on the road which was turned into a no-go area for us for a few days,” said a government official, who wished not to be named.

Talking to The Express Tribune, a trader Jamal said, “Thank God the participants have gone back and we can run our businesses.” He added that he had suffered a loss of over Rs1 million due to the sit-in and questioned who would compensate him for his economic loss. “Same is the case with every trader on the avenue,” he said. Humayun, who opened his shop after a week, said, “I’m glad that the sit-in concluded in a peaceful manner but I’m upset to see all this garbage. I wonder what sort of message is being conveying to the nation.”



The locals, though relieved were disappointed to see one of the greener and cleaner avenues littered with heaps of garbage. Pakistani flags, banners and stickers with Dr Tahirul Qadri’s pictures were also lying in a puddle on Jinnah Avenue. “It’s painful to see one of the more beautiful roads looking like a garbage dump,” said Ulfat, a resident of sector F-6/1. Some youngsters could be seen trying to clean up the road because they said they could not bear to see their city littered with trash.

Ramzan Sajid, spokesperson for Capital Development Authority, said, “Over 100 tons of garbage has so far been removed through a massive clean-up campaign in which around 200 sanitation workers and 65 vehicles were deployed.”

All the relevant directorates of the authority including sanitation, health services, environment and the CDA Secretariat will remain open on Saturday to clean up the avenue and to prevent the spread of any epidemic in the capital, he added.



Damage was caused to decorative plants, grass, grills and palm trees on either side of Jinnah Avenue. CDA will try to save the fallen plants by erecting supports and plant additional saplings to make up for the damage to trees, which were felled to light fires for participants.

Meanwhile, a rush was observed in the federal hospitals which have been on high alert since last Friday. Surgeries also resumed at Polyclinic and Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (Pims). Sources in the hospitals said over 160 surgeries were postponed in Polyclinic Hospital, while around 1,000 surgeries were postponed in Pims from Monday till Thursday.

Around 2,000 people were unable to reach hospitals due to closure of roads and unavailability of transport due to long march, according to hospital sources.

Talking to The Express Tribune, a senior doctor at Polyclinic Hospital said, “We have been on our toes for the past one week. We were unable to go home and get a good night’s sleep or even proper food. Routine in outpatient departments was disrupted and there was this fear that anything could happen.”

Vendors were, however, upset with the departure of the long march’s participants. Afzal, who sells homemade donuts, was one of them. “During the sit-in, my sales shot up to Rs18,000 from Rs500 which was unprecedented,” he said.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 19^th, 2013.