Labourers at stone-crushing units without work for months.

TAXILA -- Bahar Hussain Shah, 42, lives with elderly parents and four other family members in a two-room house. He has not worked since March, when the asphalt plant in Thatta Khalil was shut down. He says he is struggling to feed his family.

Mr Shah's story is common to almost all the homes in Thatta Khalil, a locality at the foot of the Margalla Hills near the Islamabad-Peshawar Motorway. He told Dawn that since the stone crushing units in the hills closed down, he has spent his savings on utility bills, medicines for his parents and food for his family. Now, with his savings running out, he said they are facing starvation.

'This is not the story of one man or a single family, but around 200 families living in the Thatta Khalil union council. All the residents are associated with the nearby Margalla Hills, as unskilled or skilled labourers such as shawl operators, dumper drivers, electricians, plant operators and even mechanics,' said local social worker Nasir Mehmood.

Zakat Committee Chairman Ghulam Hussain said that Thatta Khalil's people have been working in the hulls for generations. Their financial stability collapsed when the stone crushing units they worked in closed in March, and as other industries and business activities halted soon after due to the coronavirus pandemic.

'We are being approached by families in the area who, in the past, were contributing Zakat for other people but have now become Zakat seekers,' Mr Hussain said.

Saeed Siddiqui, another social worker, said that in addition to the 2,000 workers associated with the stone crushing industry who have suffered, more than 3,000 people indirectly associated with the industry - such as dumpers, truckers, vehicle mechanics, workshop owners, hotel owners and daily-wage workers - have lost their jobs and are facing starvation as businesses and business activities are practically suspended because of the pandemic.

Dumper Association Chairman Haji Rafeeq Khan said that more than 4,000 dumpers, trucks and trailers are part...