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Students unable to get books from Urdu bazaar
Karachi, Sep 1: With the start of the new academic session, students thronged to
the Urdu bazaar, the main supplier of academic books for the entire city.
However, this year students were in for a shock because they were unable to get
their desired books and many had to endure the stagnant water accumulated in the
entire area after the recent rains.
Although a week has passed since the
rains, the water in the area has not been drained. Further more, a pile of
garbage next to a government college in the area continues to grow. Neither the
shopkeepers nor the town administration pay attention to cleaning the area where
students aged five and above come to purchase their course books.
Urdu
bazaar is located between the prestigious Government College of Women and Radio
Pakistan, but the civic agencies of the area are least bothered about the
condition of the area.
Another problem that ails Urdu bazaar is that the
town administration has allowed push carts, carrying books and stationary, to
sell their merchandise on the footpath. A concerned parent says that the books
sold in road side cabins are sub-standard and made of low-quality paper, but are
sold at exorbitant prices.
The Saddar town administration consistently
says that all encroachments in the area have been removed which is contrary to
what is witnessed by the citizens.
Recently, at the pretext of clearing
encroachments, the town administration gave an NOC to vendors to establish
makeshift cabins for selling books and copies. Sources in the department said that these footpaths were leased for a sum of Rs50, 000 per year and
which is to increase by 10 per cent after a year. Those who fail to provide the
sum will be displaced, they added.
The increasing trend of "footpath
selling" has added to the misery of pedestrians, students and parents who visit
Urdu bazaar in this congested area. In fact, the entrance to the bazaar is
filled with tyre shops and other car accessories retailers.
A nullah,
built by the sellers themselves, which could have been used for draining the
sewerage from the area, exploded owing to the corrosive fumes that it produced.
However, the general notion is that the explosion took place because of criminal
activity going on in the area. The nullah was later rebuilt by the government.
However, it was closed for the public in order to avoid any untoward incident.
This added more problems for the area people as the area is situated next to a
government college.
The situation, has not changed at all as the
activities of the local mafia continue under the garb of selling books. The
bazaar has become the biggest centre for selling pirated books. These books are
sold at the same prices as the original publishers but sometimes at even higher
rates because, according to book sellers, they are in short supply.
Furthermore, roadside cabins not only mar the traffic flow, but disturb
the free movement of visitors, students and parents. It is difficult to pass
through Urdu bazaar as there is no traffic police or even a signal in the area. The news
Your Comments
"i m poor student and my parent cant offord my books deus plees give me alote of books."
Name: zeeshan
Email: zeeshanzaz@yahoo.com
City, Country: swabi, Pakistan
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