KARACHI, Sindh: A Karachi wholesale shutdown will close major markets on Wednesday, July 15, as traders protest arrests, fines and shop closures during the administration’s flour-price campaign.
Karachi Wholesale Grocers Association Chairman Abdul Rauf Ibrahim said Jodia Bazaar, Lea Market and Dandia Bazaar would close. Wholesale markets in Nanak Wara, Landhi, Malir, Korangi and Liaquatabad will also join the protest.
The association said wholesale supplies of essential food commodities from Karachi could be suspended nationwide during the shutdown. It said the protest would continue until sealed shops reopened and enforcement action against traders ended.
Ibrahim alleged that officials had imposed fines ranging from Rs50,000 to Rs150,000 without providing written notices or official receipts. He also claimed that some traders were told to transfer payments to an Easypaisa account. The city administration had not publicly responded to those specific allegations at the time of publication.
Read: Karachi House Robbery: 150 Tolas Gold, Cash Looted
The protest follows a citywide campaign against violations of government-notified flour prices. Karachi authorities conducted 673 inspections and imposed fines totalling more than Rs1.2 million.
The Commissioner Karachi’s price list, dated July 9, sets the retail price of No. 2.5 flour at Rs125 per kilogram and fine flour at Rs135 per kilogram.
Ibrahim blamed flour mills for supplying flour above the notified rates and urged the administration to act against mill owners rather than retailers and wholesalers. The Sindh government had earlier announced a province-wide campaign against wheat hoarding to stabilise prices.
