Safety audit of buildings demanded

The members of civil society have demanded of the government to conduct proper safety audits of all official, commercial, and industrial buildings on an immediate basis to prevent fire incidents in Karachi.

They made this demand while speaking at a press conference with a slogan: "Who should be blamed for frequent fire incidents".

They said that the city administration, relevant civic agencies, general public, trade bodies, and chamber of commerce, have to work collectively for the long-pending implementation of the fire safety rules.

Fire Protection Industry of Pakistan President Dr Imran Taj said that spreading mass awareness about the issue of fire safety was as important as the timely dispatch of the fire brigade to handle fire emergency. He said the fire safety equipment should be made available in working condition at the commercial and high-rise buildings whose occupants should know how to handle the firefighting equipment.

Read Report on RJ Mall fire incident submitted

Dr Taj lamented that implementation of the Fire Safety Provisions of the Building Code of Pakistan had been pending since 2016. Nadeem Sheikh of the Justice Helpline said that there was no practical implementation of the fire safety rules as they existed only on paper. He informed media persons that the Justice Helpline had moved the high court on the recent fire tragedies at the RJ Mall and Arshi Centre and he hoped that the judiciary would provide justice to the victims. National Forum for Environment and Health President Naeem Qureshi said that almost 15,000 people had lost their lives in around 900 fire incidents in the country in a year. He mentioned that around 150,000 people sustained injuries due to the frequent fire incidents, while the fire incidents have caused almost Rs1,000 billion loss of properties. He disclosed that fire safety equipment in up to 80 per cent of high-rise buildings and factories in Karachi were faulty.

Zulfiqar Shah of Sajjan Union of KMC workers said that the city's fire brigade utterly lacked the latest equipment and gadgets required for dealing with frequent fire emergencies.

He said that only 40 out of 100 vehicles available with the city's fire brigade were in working condition. Also speaking on the occasion, representatives of different NGOs urged the Sindh government, Karachi Metropolitan Corporation, Civil Defence, and electrical inspectors to ensure the implementation of the fire safety rules at the commercial and industrial buildings in the city.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 14^th, 2023.