GARBAGE BURNING: While passing through the Shaheed-e-Millat Expressway in Karachi at around 1030am recently, I was shocked to see dense smoke enve-loping the area and reducing the visibility to almost zero. The smoke was coming from the Lyari river bed towards the Baloch Colony residential area. Unfortunately, this constant burning of garbage on the river bed must be creating a lot of health hazards for the area residents. It is surprising that despite an uproar over air quality in cities, garbage is being burnt openly in the middle of the mega city. The government should immediately take measures to stop this continuing reckless practice. : The government keeps claiming that inflation in Pakistan has begun to decline. The ground realities, however, suggest otherwise. In Dadu district’s Johi area, when the inflation was at its peak in 2022, one litre of cooking oil used to cost Rs250, which is now sold at the price of around Rs500. Similarly, the prices of milk, life-saving drugs, pulses, meat, vegetables and all other essential commodities have doubled or even tripled in the last two years, adding further to the financial woes of already burdened masses. High prices coupled with exorbitant increase in taxes, lack of employment opportunities, low wages and meagre salaries have seriously affected the life of lower social classes. : This is with reference to the report “Government offers ‘olive branch’ to embattled PTI” (Nov 18), which quoted the defence minister as having offered the opposition party a chance to hold talks. He, however, assailed the Khyber Pakhtun-khwa (KP) chief minister and everyone in the opposition party as hypocrite and liar. In fact, like many others, I am unable to fathom why the government offered talks to the opposition party if it really believed that the party in question was full of hypocrites and liars.