Torrential rain on Tuesday almost brought the business activities to a halt as the city's five main industries' productions were hampered by the absence of workers who failed to report for work. Industrialists said that around 50 to 60 percent workers could not turn up as the roads and streets were flooded with water. Even the traffic was thin owing to the thundering showers that lashed the metropolis, they also said.
However the industries remained operative with a reduced workforce that badly affected the production, they added. "When workers do not turn up, who would rotate the wheel of the industries," the industrialists questioned. They said the export-oriented industries are likely to suffer most in case their shipments get delayed for a day or two as the delay would jeopardise their contracts with foreign buyers.
There are 2,000 to 2,500 industries in Korangi which employ over 200,000 people, out of which 30 to 40 per cent people work on daily wages who would suffer most when domestic and foreign shipment productions are suspended. The Site area has over 3,000 units which employees 550,000 to 600,000 workers out of which 300,000 to 350,000 are on daily wages.