By Staff Reporter
KARACHI: The Sindh provincial government on Friday directed all shops, markets and shopping malls in Karachi and the province’s other divisional headquarters to shut by 9 p.m. every day of the week, including Saturdays and Sundays, as part of a sweeping set of austerity measures aimed at conserving energy during a global fuel crisis triggered by the U.S.-Israel war on Iran.
In a formal notification, authorities set an even earlier 8 pm closing time for markets, shops and malls in districts outside the divisional headquarters. The order exempts a range of essential services, including standalone tandoor bakeries, milk and dairy shops, bakeries, medical stores and pharmacies, medical laboratories, clinics and hospitals, and fuel stations.
Hotels, restaurants and other food outlets will be permitted to serve dinner only between 7 p.m. and 11:30 p.m., though home delivery and takeaway services face no restrictions. Marriage halls, wedding venues and banquet facilities across the province will be allowed to operate from 8 p.m. until midnight.
The restrictions mark the latest step in a monthlong campaign by Pakistani authorities to reduce electricity and fuel consumption as international oil prices have surged. The federal government has framed the measures as necessary energy-conservation steps, and Sindh’s decision brings the country’s most populous and economically vital province in line with a broader national effort.
On April 6, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif chaired a federal meeting that ordered markets and shopping malls nationwide — except in Sindh, which was still consulting stakeholders at the time — to close by 8 p.m. The same directive allowed bakeries, restaurants, tandoors and other eateries to remain open until 10 p.m. “Marriage halls, marquees and other commercial centres where marriages take place will be closed by 10 p.m.,” Sharif said during the meeting, according to an official press release.
Later that day, Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah convened provincial officials with representatives of the business community, including the Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Korangi Association of Trade and Industry. Shah assured the group that final market timings for Sindh would be set only after consultation, according to officials familiar with the discussion.
Sindh’s notification Friday appears to reflect the outcome of those talks while diverging slightly from the stricter federal template. By allowing divisional headquarters — including Karachi, the country’s commercial capital and home to roughly 20 million people — a one-hour later closing time, the province sought to balance energy savings with the practical needs of its dense urban economy.
The move follows similar announcements from two other provinces. On April 5, the governments of Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa said markets and shopping centers there would close at 8 p.m., with the exception of divisional headquarters.
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