Skip to main content

Sadar Empress Market




The character of Saddar's Empress Market, the city's oldest and most prestigious marketplace, is being eroded with the passage each day. The hands of the clocks on each face of the clock tower, which once dominated the market, have disappeared, and the clocks themselves are in a state of total disrepair.

The paucity of funds for their maintenance had been going unnoticed and now nobody has a clue regarding the whereabouts of the precious hands of these 100-year-old clocks, a senior city government officer told The News on condition of anonymity. Shopkeepers also complained that they rarely hear about maintenance and cleaning of this market, despite the fact that they pay taxes regularly. One shopkeeper, Imran Guru said that they had lost customers; now, the value of the market was also declining and its paint fading.

Iftikhar, a visitor to the Empress Market, said that the City Nazim should maintain a separate department to secure these few heritage buildings to promote tourism. Four decades ago, Saddar's Empress Market was a relatively peaceful place, free of traffic bottlenecks, smog, and constant honking. Reminiscing about "those times", Anwar Dildar Qureshi, the owner of a restaurant in the market, said that few buses used to come to the area and traffic used to be minimal and orderly.

The market was frequented by tourists until 1980, but they are a rare sight now, Qureshi said, adding that at the time, there was no concept of theft or robbery in the area. He also said that the sewerage system used to be efficient, and even during shopping continued even during rainfall, while colourful umbrellas would add to the view.

There is no elaborate lighting system at the market, while in the past, it glistened owing to the cleanliness of the buildings.

This, Qureshi said, was no longer the case owing to the thick black plumes of smoke being emitted round-the-clock. The whole market is surrounded by heaps of garbage and is in dire need of dedicated sanitary staff. The market also lacks adequate security arrangements. Rangers who have been deployed in the area are also at a distance from the market itself.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

ANP Sindh Chief Shot Dead (Unconfirmed)

Unconfirmed reports of ANP Chief killed has been spreading across the city, causing panic among public. People have been fleeing from offices and shops to rush back home hence badly jamming the roads around the city. Although there has been no confirmation or denial of the killing by any of the news channels or authentic sources, rumors are spreading that firing has been seen and heard in busy places like Saddar, Sohrab Goth etc and police is roaming around to maintain calamity across the city... Let hope for the best...

Why We Love Karachi - Aansoon ko sharaab kehtay hein! :)

Get The ROLL INN Rollin'

The only place in Karachi -in my opinion at least- to get the best chicken cheese rolls is ROLL INN -boat basin, Clifton. This place is so popular, and probably the rolls so delicious that their rolls have become the center of attraction, or more accurately speaking -have literally blinded the curtomers of any other drawbacks in the place! I bumped into a boy from my own neighborhood back in Gulshan-e-Iqbal. I asked him what are you doing here with your buddies, he replied that he was there to eat the rolls! I've gathered some pictures of the place while I was there myself waiting for the "waiter". Finally the waiter arrives and hands over the menu, after deciding what to eat me and my friends moved to the drinks section, guess what! they had "Letter" bottles of soft drinks being printed on the menu! Guess they have put a lot of thought when having those menus printed! Let me explain the magic of these super rolls! This place is so damn small that it can barely ...