Shopkeepers that were shifted from Khawaja Shahabuddin Market to the new shops on Preedy Street, Lines Area, are unhappy with the new location.

They say that buyers do not turn up to shop at the new location which is why their business has declined by as much as 80 per cent, thus incurring losses. Many consumers say that the absence of public transport in that area dissuades them from going there. “Since public buses do not go towards that end of the street, buyers prefer shopping from other places that are convenient for them,” said Haji Abdul Ghani, an occupant in Block A.

Furthermore, the old market was centrally located whereas Preedy Street is isolated from the rest of the shopping areas. “Most of the customers at the old market used to travel by bus and since the bus stop is quite far from the new location, they find it difficult to go to Preedy Street,” said shopkeepers.

Since these markets have items priced at wholesale rates, thus “if a customer has to pay extra for transport, then the cost turns out to be just about the same “ said another visitor to the market. Also, the fact that the Lines Area is notorious for being a criminal den makes customers want to avoid going there. “Visitors are robbed here every other day,” said Mansoor Alam, who lives in Block C, adding that no rickshaw driver agrees to go there at night. “Recently, a shop in Block C was robbed of valuables worth Rs75,000,” he added.

Meanwhile, poor planning and lack of infrastructure adds to the miseries of the shopkeepers here. One road of the Preedy Street, on which Islamia Girls College is situated, has been closed due to the under-construction parking plaza while the other road has been left open for two-way traffic that is being encroached upon by vendors. As a result, accidents have become the norm here. Another street that lies on the other side of the plot, parallel to Preedy Street, is also in bad shape. The road is broken with lots of open manholes, trash and no street lights. “Visitors don’t like coming here after dark,” complained the shopkeepers.

The new shops have been built as three blocks on separate plots located on the street with distances in between. Divided into three blocks – A, B and C – the 7 by 7 square feet shops have been constructed in a haphazard manner, complained the shopkeepers.

These shops are a quarter of the size of those in Shahabuddin Market. “Although two shops are given against one shop, but the size of each shop is so small that even the two put together are not as big as the previous shops,” they added. For example, Abdul Qadir who had a 12 by 18 square feet shop in the old market has been given two shops of 7 by 7 at the new market. The two shops together are only half of what he had before.

The owners also disclosed that the sizes of the old shops have deliberately misrepresented in official records. Since the shopkeepers did not want to move there, they were were shifted by force. “We had no option other than complying since they had warned us that they would break the shutter locks if we resisted,” said Najam, another shop owner.

Numerous shops in the new market are under dispute – some of them have multiple claimants. Faisal Habib, who has multiple shops in Block A, told The News that his grandfather had bought a shop in Shahabuddin Market from his friend. Around Rs31,000 out of Rs40,000 have already been paid. His grandfather had been paying all the bills and bearing all expenses for the past 40 years. Habib claimed his family has all the receipts of the bills. Since the shops have not been registered with my grandfather’s name and his friend died, the latter’s sons have taken advantage of the situation and claimed two shops in the new market. Habib’s family has claimed the shop in court and a case is underway these days.

Meanwhile, the electric wiring has also been shabbily done — the underground wiring remains uncovered at several places. “Frequent faults occur in the wiring and every time we are without electricity for five to seven days,” said Alam.

As a consequence of constant losses in the business, a large number of store owners have all but closed down shop. The Secretary of the market, Muhammad Shafiq Khan, said that many have stopped coming to work and more are expected to do the same eventually. “About six to eight shops have been closed down in the present month only,” he told The News.

Around 25 shops out of 150 shops in Block A have been closed since the shop owners have incurred huge losses. Block B that houses the vegetable and meat section remains almost empty. “Owners do not come to shops because they are not spacious enough to accommodate the cages,” said others in the same block. Out of the 175 shops in Block C, only 50 remain open.

An official notice has been posted outside the shops that warn the owners to open their shops or else their registration would be cancelled.

The shuffling in various departments of the City District Government Karachi (CDGK) has raised doubts regarding the fate of the parking plaza which is due to be built at the site of Shahabuddin Market. With the removal of the City Nazim from the chairmanship of two major departments and the on-going tussle in between the CDGK and Local Government Ministry, the completion of the CDGK projects has become uncertain, said observers. Many believe that the parking plaza project cannot continue since the LG minister Agha Siraj Durrani will not provide funds for the CDGK project. Shop owners have written a letter to the Chief Minister and to the LG Minister in this regard to state their problems and hope that their grievances will be addressed soon.