The shortage of daily food items mainly milk, bread and vegetables has hit Karachiites as the supply remained discontinued on Saturday due to absence of transport.
A view of the city showed that not a single shop was open on Friday and Saturday even in the narrow lanes of the metropolis, mainly due to intense violence which has claimed 15 lives so far and destroyed government and private property worth billions of rupees.
Milk was not supplied throughout the city on Friday and Saturday due to burning of vehicles and insufficient security in Landhi area, Joint Secretary Dairy Farmers Association Shaukat Mukhtar said.
He said cattle colony is surrounded by unsettled areas where miscreants did not allow vehicles of milk suppliers to go out and reach retailers. Arshad Warsi, a resident of Block 13-D, Gulshan-e-Iqbal said his two sons aged 4 and 6 could not get milk for the last two days. "I reached my house at midnight and at that time not a single shop was open in the area."
"I could not find a pack of milk in the area as all the shops are closed and if some one is selling under shutter, it has depleted all the stocks," he added.
Similarly, bakery items including breads, eggs and buns could not reach retail shops. "I have sold the last three packs of sliced bread (double roti) and now the shop is empty," the owner of a small bakery shops in Gharibabad, Abdul Rashid said. He said 'maida' (fine four) is available but no worker could reach the bakery.
Chicken eggs were sold at Rs72 a dozen by some of the shops under the shutter on Friday within half an hour. Now there is no supply. Vegetables are not available all over the city as push-cart vendors also remained off the road on Friday and Saturday. A vegetable vendors in Gulshan-e-Iqbal, Akbar Shahi said that he could not reach new Sabzi Mandi early Saturday due to absence of transport.