KARACHI: Ever back Karachi’s demographic blueprint went berserk, the affair of the aerial abomination ante has never been asleep from the city’s almanac books.
The advertence is to the 1960s back the blooming of a array of industries angry the Sindh basic into the bartering hub of the country. Naturally, the burghal saw an access in population, and the cardinal of bodies who capital to acquire a quick blade additionally acquired strength.
On Dec 5, 1967 a abstraction appear that abomination cases in Karachi showed an access of about 10 per cent during November 1967 compared to the agnate aeon in 1966. The advancement trend was apparent by the acceleration in abhorrent crimes such as murders, robberies and burglaries. The badge registered, in all, 866 cases in November as adjoin 789 in November 1966. Of the 12 murders in the month, two were infanticide cases, two were committed due to abrupt provocation, and eight cases were beneath investigation. Alone two were beatific up for trial. There was alone one case of dacoity in which a bus was beggared by eight persons. (So, annexation a bus is not absolute to 21st aeon Karachi.)
The added affair that saw an advance that division was the bake-apple prices. (It was the angelic ages of Ramazan.) From the time the Ramazan moon was sighted on Dec 3, the prices of bake-apple skyrocketed by added than 25 per cent, and a few canicule after they were 50pc college afore iftar time. After iftar, the vendors disposed of the fruits at abundant cheaper rates. Oranges, awash the antecedent anniversary for a rupee a dozen were accessible on the Dec 6 morning for Rs1.25 per dozen. At iftar, their amount went up to Rs1.50 a dozen. At night, they were quoted at a rupee a dozen. Bananas were affairs on the aforementioned morning for Rs2 a dozen as adjoin Rs1.50 a dozen. In the black they were awash at Rs2.50 a dozen. After iftar the prices angled to Rs1.50 a dozen. Sadly, the burghal authorities did not accumulate a analysis on this assumed hike.
On the added hand, the Karachi Electric Supply Corporation, now K Electric, was in no affection to absolve the defaulters (those who did not pay electricity bills). On Dec 7, the association appear that it’s activity to barrage a accumulation break drive to accomplish the accretion cardinal of defaulters pay up arrears that had totalled Rs20 million. On top of the defaulters’ account were government and semi-government departments.
Among the residential consumers of electricity, the bodies active in chic apartment societies were best ‘irregular’ in payments. About a division of the 200,000 consumers in the burghal did not bright their bills beatific to them every two months. Despite several notices, hardly 10 per cent of the defaulters had paid their dues.
To be honest, winter had aloof set in and electricity burning in the winter is consistently at its lowest. What hits the peak, though, is arcade for balmy clothes. On Dec 9, this bi-weekly appear that shoppers for winter woollies had apparent a new haunt, a actual Alladin’s cave, area big-ticket attractive alien woollies could be best up for abutting to nothing. Situated in an backward lane off Bunder Road (now M. A. Jinnah Road) forth Lighthouse Cinema, with no amplitude alike for a barrow to canyon through, the bazaar had become a shoppers’ paradise awash with ‘society ladies’, white-collar workers and teenagers. They all abounding up central and alfresco the shops, rummaging through the bags of admirable jerseys, sweaters and cardigans of all shapes and sizes, acrimonious the items of their choice. The woolens had been in the bazaar for the antecedent two years. But the appeal for them in 1967 was unprecedented. The appeal had additionally been triggered off by the actuality that to assure the absorption of the bounded woolen industry, the acceptation of woolies had been chock-full and no licences had been accustomed for their acceptation for one year.
Published in Dawn, December 4th, 2017
