The citizens of Karachi found some relief on Saturday, the second of a three-day fruit boycott, as the price of fruit was lowered by up to 40 per cent after street vendors saw minimal market activity on Friday. Karachi Consumer Association Chief Kaukab Iqbal said on Saturday that he found minimal market activity during his routine inspection rounds of Gulshan-i-Iqbal, Gulberg and Water pump area. "There were fewer buyers on the street, the usual hustle and bustle of Saturdays was missing," he said.
Iqbal added: "Street hawkers that previously refrained from displaying the price of fruit on their carts were now calling the rates out loud in an effort to attract customers."
Discussing the findings of his inspection, Iqbal said that the price of bananas had been lowered to Rs 80 even though the price on the list was Rs 100 and hawkers had been selling them at as high as Rs 180 the previous day. "For now the price of fruit has gone down by at least 40pc but the commissioner is also to be blamed here for setting the price of fruit higher than necessary. The rate for bananas, for example, has been set at Rs 100 when it is unjustified, as bananas do not have a transportation cost as high as other fruit," Iqbal added. He said he fully endorsed the boycott as the price set by the government was still out of the common man's reach.
"In fact citizens should use this tactic on other consumer products such as clothes and shoes as well," he concluded. On the other hand, the head of the Karachi Market Committee Asif Ahmad said that there were 10 to 15pc less activity in the fruit wholesale market. Ahmad, however, did not agree with the citizens' boycott and said, "People are targeting street vendors once again and forgetting that supermarkets are selling fruit at nearly double the rate set by the government.
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