Karachi, Sep 1: With the start of the new academic session, students thronged to the Urdu bazaar, the main supplier of academic books for the entire city. However, this year students were in for a shock because they were unable to get their desired books and many had to endure the stagnant water accumulated in the entire area after the recent rains.
Although a week has passed since the rains, the water in the area has not been drained. Further more, a pile of garbage next to a government college in the area continues to grow. Neither the shopkeepers nor the town administration pay attention to cleaning the area where students aged five and above come to purchase their course books.
Urdu bazaar is located between the prestigious Government College of Women and Radio Pakistan, but the civic agencies of the area are least bothered about the condition of the area.
Another problem that ails Urdu bazaar is that the town administration has allowed push carts, carrying books and stationary, to sell their merchandise on the footpath. A concerned parent says that the books sold in road side cabins are sub-standard and made of low-quality paper, but are sold at exorbitant prices.
The Saddar town administration consistently says that all encroachments in the area have been removed which is contrary to what is witnessed by the citizens.
Recently, at the pretext of clearing encroachments, the town administration gave an NOC to vendors to establish makeshift cabins for selling books and copies. Sources in the department said that these footpaths were leased for a sum of Rs50, 000 per year and which is to increase by 10 per cent after a year. Those who fail to provide the sum will be displaced, they added.
The increasing trend of "footpath selling" has added to the misery of pedestrians, students and parents who visit Urdu bazaar in this congested area. In fact, the entrance to the bazaar is filled with tyre shops and other car accessories retailers.
A nullah, built by the sellers themselves, which could have been used for draining the sewerage from the area, exploded owing to the corrosive fumes that it produced. However, the general notion is that the explosion took place because of criminal activity going on in the area. The nullah was later rebuilt by the government. However, it was closed for the public in order to avoid any untoward incident. This added more problems for the area people as the area is situated next to a government college.
The situation, has not changed at all as the activities of the local mafia continue under the garb of selling books. The bazaar has become the biggest centre for selling pirated books. These books are sold at the same prices as the original publishers but sometimes at even higher rates because, according to book sellers, they are in short supply.
"i m poor student and my parent cant offord my books deus plees give me alote of books."
"i m poor student. my father has died and my mother cant offord my books deus plees give me alote of books. example , electricals and computer books ."