Aftermath of fire: Old habits die hard for Timber Market traders

Nearly 250 shops burnt to the ground in a massive fire on December 28 last year

KARACHI: Over the blackened remains of what was once their shops, the shopkeepers of the Timber Market huddle together with anxious faces.

"Next Wednesday would mark one month of the fire incident but the government has yet to start the restoration work," complained Ishaq, who lost his 30-year-old shop in the fire. On December 28 last year, around 250 shops were destroyed in a massive fire that broke out in Timber Market at Old Haji Camp.

Unable to find work anywhere else, the men come out early morning and sit together under the open sky. They place their plastic chairs on the charred debris and heaps of ash, and sit where their shops were once earning them their livelihoods.

Government officials visited the site to mark where the new shops would be built, but apart from that, nothing concrete has been done so far. "We come here to pass our time, and see if there will be any development today," explained Ishaq, who not only lost his livelihood but his goods worth Rs500,000. "They [the authorities] say it will take three months to rebuild but when will they start work?"

The men become grim-faced when they talk about the fire. Shopkeeper Mehmoodul Hasan said that none of them imagined they will lose everything in one day. So far, the Rs100,000 compensation that the government paid them has been helping them. "Once that money finishes, what will happen?" he wondered.

Apart from the shops, several people lost their homes as well. These residents also hang around the remains of their abode, hoping the work will start soon. Three women who lived in separate portions of a three-room house are now forced to manage in a single room. There is only one kitchen where they cook. "I go to my sister's house to sleep," said Sakina, adding that she lost all the appliances and furniture in the fire.

Another resident, Nasir, showed the cracks on his kitchen walls caused by the fire. A bathroom and a room were completely destroyed in the fire. "What if this falls down?" he feared. "I have two small children."

The shopkeepers hope that the Karachi Chamber of Commerce will keep supporting them during the rebuilding and restoration phase. "We don't have much hope in the government but we want the chamber to continue raising the issue," said an elderly shopkeeper Abdul Kareem Soomro. "They took responsibility of the Boulton Market and it was rebuilt."

The fire incident has, however, made the shopkeepers realise the importance of installing fire extinguishers and equipment in the markets. "That day people were running here, and had no idea what to do," said Soomro.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 24^th, 2015.