KARACHI, Oct 13: White cloth, commonly known as lattha, used as shroud is in great demand in Karachi market owing to its shipment to the quake-hit areas as appeals have been made in Karachi to contribute lattha so as to finalize the burial rituals of those who have lost their lives in the tragedy.

The cloth which was earlier available for Rs28 per meter in the wholesale is now being sold at Rs40 to 45 per meter as black-marketing of the product is at its peak.

Generous people are purchasing cloth bales/ stacks and making their shipments directly from the godowns in the city to the quake-hit areas. Greedy shop owners and businessmen have either created its artificial shortage or are selling cloth of inferior quality.

A social worker running a welfare organization arranging shrouds for various parties said although he had purchased cloth at higher rates; he was providing shrouds at the previous rate of Rs450 for man and Rs475 for woman. He was, however, hopeful that the wholesale and retail price would come down in a day or two as the increase or shortage was artificial.

Mosques where coffin services are available have also run short of cloth and many social organizations are concentrating on the provision of lattha.

However, in the backdrop of news about incidents of vandalism in which truck loads of food and other goods meant for the quake hit areas of the NWFP, Punjab and Azad Kashmir are being looted, the Karachiites who are making generous contributions for the earthquake hit people have expressed concern over such reports.

They said at a time when the nation was untied on a single agenda “relief to the suffering humanity”, some anti-social elements were bent upon creating hurdles in the relief works.

A resident of Mehmoodabad who has his relatives in a village near Rawalakot said that relief goods were not reaching small villages and people were without food and shelter. The truck loads sent to those areas are waylaid in the middle of the journey, he added.

Moreover, various social organizations have set up their camps in the entire metropolis apart from official agencies, like the community welfare department of the city government, Pakistan Rangers, Sindh Police.

A number of citizens have demanded of the Sindh government to carry out a survey to evaluate the quality of construction material used in school buildings. The government should determine how many government school buildings have been raised without pillars as there are reports that no pillars have been used in a large number of school buildings in Karachi.