Islamabad - The mismanagement of Capital Development Authority (CDA) has added to the miseries of shopkeepers of Flower Market, located in the Super Market, as the rooftops of all the makeshift shops collapsed following a recent spell of rains in the capital.
The business of the poor shopkeepers faced a severe blow during the last couple of days as their shops have been damaged due to rains and they are sitting in open area, finding no place to place their flowers under a shelter.
The CDA had constructed these makeshift shops for the Flower Market and had allotted these shops to different persons at very nominal rates. These shops can only be used for the purpose of flower business and CDA only holds the authority to repair these shops.
“We have announced protest demonstration on next Monday against the red-tapism of CDA as all of us are the only breadwinners of our families and the CDA is busy doing file work and nothing else. He demanded early repair of all the damaged shops,” Gohar Iqbal, a shopkeeper said.
The officials of DMA, a department of CDA, have recently visited the area and now they are busy estimating the losses, leaving the shopkeepers to sit in the open.
“Our electricity system is totally disturbed and UPS (uninterrupted power supply) systems have gone out of order due to rains,” Mohammad Ashraf Fauji, another shopkeeper, told The Nation.
“We will protest on April 6 against CDA’ attitude and the responsibility of the situation would fall on the authority,” Sarfraz Mughal, President Traders Association of Super Market, told this scribe.
He said that CDA officials had been asked time and again to construct the makeshift shops so that poor flower sellers could continue with their business.