KARACHI, June 29: More than 400 small shop-owners engaged in allied business at the Hawkesbay truck stand have expressed their concern over the slow pace of work for the extension of the main Hawkesbay Road.

Talking to this reporter during a visit to the area, they apprehended that their shops might submerge unless steps were taken for the completion of earth-filing work before the start of monsoon rains.

Their representatives stated that they had been bringing it to the knowledge of the relevant authorities that their place of business was vulnerable to flooding due to the digging and the slow pace of the uplift work, and warned that the responsibility of any major losses caused by the rains would rest on the officials concerned.

They also accused the officials concerned of having done poor planning, adding that it was a wrong time to undertake such a project as monsoon was approaching fast when the work had been started.

“The high-ups should have had taken into consideration the ensuing monsoons before undertaking the road extension project,” they argued. They said that in case of any damage caused to their shops by rains and flooding, they would be rightful to demand suitable compensation.

The Hawkesbay truck stand was established in 1994 for the heavy and long vehicles operated by transporters as goods carriers. Previously, the transporters had been running their business along Mauripur Road and some other roads mainly in the old city areas. The government decided to accommodate them at a new truck stand away from the congested areas of the city when the movement of a large number of heavy vehicles in the congested areas was causing traffic mess on many of the major and busy roads.

In 1990, the defunct KMC acquired 100 acres from the Board of Revenue for the construction of the new truck stand.

It is contributing millions of rupees to the exchequer and the city government alone is generating an estimated Rs60 million per annum under the head of parking fee from an average 5,000 truckers using the facility.

However, the truck stand is in a very bad shape owing to the non-availability of basic amenities ever since its establishment.

Abid Brohi, Abdul Khaliq, Hafiz Khalid, and Sultan Niazi, leaders of the Aman Dost Labour Organisation, accused the city government of paying less attention to the completion of the development works at the truck stand, saying that the work on the laying of drainage lines had been abandoned about eight months back. The pipes worth millions of rupees were dumped at the site and lying unattended for months, they added.

Owing to the digging and dumping of earth elsewhere at the site, drivers were parking their heavy and long vehicles in a haphazard manner, they pointed out, adding that the situation was causing considerable loss to the traders and shopkeepers doing business in the vicinity.

Besides, they said, the digging had added to their woes as the transporters had blocked the main road as well as the link roads leading to the truck stand.

They also alleged that the transport and land mafias active in the area had got a number of amenity plots allotted to private parties in connivance with the relevant officials. The plots were reserved for banking services, dispensary and public toilets, they said.