ISLAMABAD – The public and private sectors are bearing massive financialloss of approximately over Rs 647 million so far due to ongoing sit-in(Dharna) of Jamiat Ulema-e Islam-Fazl (JUI-F), figures gathered frommultiple stakeholders revealed on Tuesday.
The JUI-F’s dharna at sector H-9, which enters in its 13th day,is adverselyaffecting economic activities in the federal capital, causing approximatelyRs 45 million loss to the national kitty daily, besides creating chaos inthe country and disturbing daily routine lives of the twin cities’ dwellers.
The major financial losses are due to suspension of metro bus operations,rent of containers, cranes and long vehicles, closure of H-9 Weekly Bazaar,expenditures of Law Enforcement Agencies (LEAs) to handle the situation,provision of water, sanitation and other services.
The Punjab Masstransit Authority (PMA) had so far suffered a loss of Rs45.5 million to date on account of the 13-day closure ofRawalpindi-Islamabad Metro Bus Service, the official sources in the PMAtold APP.
A day before the JUI-F’s dharna, dubbed as Azadi March, the districtadministration of Islamabad had closed down the metro bus services onsecurity reasons, they added.
The public mobility on the major artery of the federal capital fromRawalpindi to Islamabad and vice versa has badly hampered, forcing peopleto use alternate long routes to reach their destinations .
“Around 120,000 to 130,000 passengers travel in the Rawalpindi-Islamabadmetro buses which generates revenue of Rs 3.5 million per day for the PMA,”the sources said.
According to the sources in Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) Police, asmany as 22,500 police personnel had been deputed on dharna duty thatincluded staff of Islamabad Police, Punjab Police, Azad Jammu and KashmirPolice and officials from other law enforcement agencies of the country.
The sources said the government was spending over 32 million on thedesignated police officials daily for their food, accommodation andtravelling.
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The government had to pay over Rs 75 million in lieu of 685 shippingcontainers rented from the transporters from across the country, they added.To a query, the sources said the containers had uniform rates as onecontainer was accounted for Rs150,000.
Nadeem Abbasi, owner of I.S Enterprises, said as many as 683 containers, 20cranes and 100 long-vehicles were being utilized in the ongoing sit-inwhich was causing around Rs 5 million loss to the transporters daily.
An official source in H-9 Bazaar told APP that the owners of stalls werealso bearing the brunt of the so-called Azadi March as there were some 2743stalls in the market that earned around Rs 50 million from their shopsdaily. The majority of stall holders belonged to lower middle class andwere being badly affected by the entire situation.
He said the CDA generated revenue of over 15 million from H-9 Bazaarannually.
The district administration of Islamabad and Metropolitan Corporation ofIslamabad had also spent some 3 million for accommodating the sanitation,health and water needs, the sources of the relevant departments informedAPP. Meanwhile, the residents of twin cities expressing their resentmentover the uncertainty and chaos asked for a swift resolution of the issue asit was testing their nerves.The parents of school going children have todaily go through an agony and remain tense till their children get backhome.
Saddaqat Abbasi, a resident of sector G-9, said he was miffed by thosesit-ins and protests in the federal capital and had to take a long route toreach Rawalpindi, and was paying heavy rent for transportation.
Another citizen of I-9, Abdul Rehman said the weekly Bazaar was a blessingfor poor and middle class people due to availability of edible items atreasonable rates as compared to the city’s expensive markets.Due to closure of the Bazaar, Rehman said he had to buy daily commoditiesat high rate from other markets where the vendors were fleecing thecitizens, exploiting the situation to mint money.