Court orders activation of fire emergency helplines

SHC irked at non-implementation of fire safety laws, seeks replies from civil defence dept, SBCA

The Sindh High Court ordered on Tuesday the activation of fire emergency helplines 16 and 1219.

Hearing a plea pertaining to fire incidents and the non-implementation of fire safety laws, a two-member bench headed by Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar also sought replies from the civil defence department and Sindh Building Control Authority (SBCA) on the matter, in addition to summoning the local government secretary and head of the relevant task force.

Civil Defence Secretary Shahid Masood claimed at the hearing that builders took no measures for fire safety during construction and almost 80 per cent buildings in Karachi have no emergency exit.

"[Here], people are more focused on security than safety," he commented, further claiming that the civil defence department wasn't provided the building plans approved by the SBCA.

Moreover, pointing out construction faults, Masood told the court that fire tenders couldn't reach Zamzam Tower in Saddar and numerous other buildings in the city and that spots reserved for the installation of equipment used for extinguishing fires had been illegally occupied.

Following this, Justice Mazhar expressed annoyance over the non-implementation of fire safety laws.

"Fires break out in textile factories and other buildings every other day and lives are lost," he remarked. "If [fire safety] laws have been enacted, why aren't they being implemented?"

Justice Mazhar observed that making amendments in fire safety laws was the need of the hour.

Adjourning the hearing, the court ordered relevant authorities to make fire emergency helplines 16 and 1219 functional, summoned the local government secretary and relevant taskforce's chairperson and sought replies from the civil defence department and SBCA on the plea.

Seeking protection

Another two-member bench headed by Justice KK Agha sent a teenage girl from Khanewal, Punjab, who married according to her will to Darul Aman.

In a plea seeking protection, Aqsa Tariq, 17, maintained that she and her in-laws face threats from her family. Hearing the plea, Justice Agha remarked that as the petitioner got married in Sindh, the laws of Sindh would be applied for the case as provincial laws are applicable on cases pertaining to marriage after the passage of the 18th Amendement.

The court sent Aqsa to Darul Aman shelter home and issued notices to her father, SSP Khanewal, Shah Latif Town SHO and other parties seeking replies by November 12.

The petitioner had applied for protection from court after marrying a man from Khanewal in Karachi on October 24 according to her will.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 4^th, 2020.