It is a race against time. And one which has left the MCD breathless. The Supreme Court's direction to collect an accurate figure on the number of industries operating in the city by Wednesday appears to have sent the civic agency into a state of disarray. In most zones, staff from different departments have been withdrawn from normal duty and employed for carrying out the survey of industries. Qualification of the surveyors being no bar, clerks and even non-office staff, like sanitary and horticulture inspectors, are said to be sharing the burden of the top-priority assignment.