The fire destroyed records kept at the seventh, eighth and ninth floors of the building, but rumours that they had also engulfed the sole copies of important documents in some corruption inquiries proved to be untrue. PHOTO: REUTERS
“This impression is baseless that the fire was ignited by any officer under a conspiracy,” a Lahore Development Authority spokesman said in a press release on Thursday, referring to the blaze at the LDA Plaza on Edgerton Road.
The fire destroyed records kept at the seventh, eighth and ninth floors of the building, but rumours that they had also engulfed the sole copies of important documents in some corruption inquiries proved to be untrue.
The records of the finance, administration, coordination and implementation and law directorates were destroyed. LDA officials said that the law directorate record, containing details of all legal cases in which the LDA was involved, was irreplaceable.
The offices of the LDA director general and additional director general (headquarters) were also gutted. Additional DG Marium Kiyani is conducting several inquiries at the moment – into allegations of wrongdoing by LDA officers and into several housing societies in Mustafa Town. These files were burnt, and it was not immediately clear if replacements were available.
The LDA spokesperson said that reports that the record of an inquiry into the Metro Bus Service project was destroyed were false, as the files were safe in the Tepa office on Lytton Road, while copies were available with Nespak.
Property records were kept at the LDA office in Johar Town and were safe, he said.
Published in The Express Tribune, May 10th, 2013.
COMMENTS (3)
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You are reporting on an extremely serious and tragic event; please don't use such frivolous headlines.
"The absence of fire escapes is a life threatening presence."
There is an adage regarding rumors, "Where there is smoke, there is fire." The fire suddenly erupted not due to a short circuit but a generator exploding, is what the TV newscaster told the viewers. The fact that it erupted in a government building is sufficient suspicion of 'hanky panky.'
The presence of fire escapes are the difference between 'life and death' and the proof has just been seen. In Karachi the Bahria Complex Building is the only one with an external fir escape and the BA Building (ex-BCC) with an internal one. However, all Pakistanis are interested in one lucre and that is, MONEY IS WHAT MAKES THE MAN TICK.
Who will be brought to the dock for the innocent lives lost? This is a big open book. Salams.
In this day and age, all documents should be scanned and backed up electronically. Also the originals should be kept off site in a secure, fireproof location. Its a big business in the West but for some reason we always seem to be lagging behind, or waiting for someone to come in and tell us how to look after our own property. Alas a country that cannot even modernise the archaic patwari system leading to untold corruption in land transactions and disputes in courts, what hope is there ?