Fire safety audit report reveals gross violation of building rules
PHOTO: FILE
The fire safety audit report submitted to the mayor by the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) Fire Department has revealed that only six out of 266 buildings checked by the department had fire extinguishers.
On the directive of Mayor Murtaza Wahab, the fire department has completed fire safety audit of 266 buildings located on three important roads of Karachi including II Chandrigar Road, Shahrah-e-Quaideen and Sharea Faisal. According to the report, the safety audit teams found fire extinguishers missing at 260 buildings, though thousands of citizens were working or living in these residential and commercial buildings.
The report said that 62 per cent of the buildings have no emergency exits, 70 per cent have very substandard electrical wiring and 90 per cent of the buildings do not have fire alarms and smoke detectors.
The fire department has recommended allowing only authentic welfare and voluntary organisations to work on the spot in case of fire in a building in any part of the city.
Without naming anybody, the report stated that some NGOs add to the difficulties in relief operation.
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The report, recommended that it should be obligatory for the deputy commissioners and assistant commissioners concerned to assist the fire department in case of fire emergency in their respective areas.
It should be noted that Mayor Wahab had issued orders for fire safety audit after 11 people died in a blaze at the RJ Shopping Mall on Rashid Minhas Road in Gulistan-e-Jauhar on November 25, 2023. Multiple incidents of fire in Karachi had made a security audit necessary to ensure the safety of the life and property of the citizens.
The notification issued by the KMC said that inspection teams had been constituted to conduct the audit of all major buildings in Karachi.
The mayor had said that buildings located on I.I. Chundrigar Road, Sharea Faisal and Shahrah-e-Quaideen/Tariq Road would be inspected in the first phase. As per the notification, the terms of reference were to assess fire safety measures including escape routes and emergency exits; basic fire safety equipment including smoke detectors, fire watch guards, fire extinguishers, fire hose, etc; electric wiring and general condition of electrical equipment, electric meters including switches, plugs, etc; to make recommendations to the building managements.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 3rd, 2024.