ISLAMABAD - The public and private sectors are bearing massive financial loss of approximately over Rs 647 million so far due to ongoing sit-in (Dharna) of Jamiat Ulema-e Islam-Fazl (JUI-F), figures gathered from multiple stakeholders revealed on Tuesday.
The JUI-F’s dharna at sector H-9, which enters in its 13th day,is adversely affecting economic activities in the federal capital, causing approximately Rs 45 million loss to the national kitty daily, besides creating chaos in the 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 Rs 45.5 million to date on account of the 13-day closure of Rawalpindi-Islamabad Metro Bus Service, the official sources in the PMA told APP.
A day before the JUI-F’s dharna, dubbed as Azadi March, the district administration of Islamabad had closed down the metro bus services on security reasons, they added.
The public mobility on the major artery of the federal capital from Rawalpindi to Islamabad and vice versa has badly hampered, forcing people to use alternate long routes to reach their destinations .
“Around 120,000 to 130,000 passengers travel in the Rawalpindi-Islamabad metro 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, as many as 22,500 police personnel had been deputed on dharna duty that included staff of Islamabad Police, Punjab Police, Azad Jammu and Kashmir Police and officials from other law enforcement agencies of the country.
The sources said the government was spending over 32 million on the designated police officials daily for their food, accommodation and travelling.
The government had to pay over Rs 75 million in lieu of 685 shipping containers rented from the transporters from across the country, they added. To a query, the sources said the containers had uniform rates as one container was accounted for Rs150,000.
Nadeem Abbasi, owner of I.S Enterprises, said as many as 683 containers, 20 cranes and 100 long-vehicles were being utilized in the ongoing sit-in which 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 were also bearing the brunt of the so-called Azadi March as there were some 2743 stalls in the market that earned around Rs 50 million from their shops daily. The majority of stall holders belonged to lower middle class and were being badly affected by the entire situation.
He said the CDA generated revenue of over 15 million from H-9 Bazaar annually.
The district administration of Islamabad and Metropolitan Corporation of Islamabad had also spent some 3 million for accommodating the sanitation, health and water needs, the sources of the relevant departments informed APP. Meanwhile, the residents of twin cities expressing their resentment over the uncertainty and chaos asked for a swift resolution of the issue as it was testing their nerves.The parents of school going children have to daily go through an agony and remain tense till their children get back home.
Saddaqat Abbasi, a resident of sector G-9, said he was miffed by those sit-ins and protests in the federal capital and had to take a long route to reach Rawalpindi, and was paying heavy rent for transportation.
Another citizen of I-9, Abdul Rehman said the weekly Bazaar was a blessing for poor and middle class people due to availability of edible items at reasonable rates as compared to the city’s expensive markets. Due to closure of the Bazaar, Rehman said he had to buy daily commodities at high rate from other markets where the vendors were fleecing the citizens, exploiting the situation to mint money.