Shopping centres in Lahore are frequently damaged in fires caused by short circuits, the most recent example being a blaze that gutted three shops in Hafeez Centre last Thursday.
International General Insurance (IGI), Adam Jee Insurance, Eastern Federal Union Insurance (EFU) and New Jubilee Insurance (NJI), which hold almost 75 per cent of the insurance market, have insured only three shops in Hafeez Centre.
Executives from these companies said that they only sell policies to shops that get special approval, usually through a high-up in the company.
“It is too risky to sell insurance cover to plazas or shops,” said Zulfiqar, vice president of EFU. “Plazas are not built according to international safety standards with fire escapes or water vaults. And the wiring in some plazas is very old and likely to get short circuits every now and then, like in Hafeez Centre.”
He suggested that all the shops in a plaza seek collective insurance. “This way the insurance company can instruct them about safety rules and it will also be profitable for the company,” he said.
“We deny policies to shops and plazas unless they get approval from the head office,” said Jamshed, an assistant manager at IGI. He added that most traders don’t bother to even try to get insurance. “Maybe five or six per cent opt for insurance cover,” he added.
He said that IGI did not sell policies to shops in Shah Alam Market, Azam Cloth Market, Urdu Bazaar and other markets in congested areas. He said that IGI had sold policies to only two of the 400 shops in Hafeez Centre and a few shops in Liberty. “Hafiz Centre is very congested. If something happens at one shop, others get damaged too. There is no emergency entrance for fire fighters and no escape route,” he said.
Irum, who works in Adam Jee Insurance’s underwriting/policy-making department, said they insured only one shop in Hafeez Centre against fire damage. “We generally do not consider shops and plazas for fire insurance or burglary insurance,” she said.
Zafar, vice president of NJI, said the company did not insure mobile phone stores, jewellers, money exchanges or computer hardware shops as they were considered high risk. He said his company did not insure any shops in Hafeez Centre. Dr Ahmad Raza, the executive district officer of Rescue 1122, suggested that shop owners take some safety measures before approaching insurers. He said after a fire last year, the Hafeez Centre elected body contacted Rescue 1122. “We gave them guidelines on how to reduce the risk of fire at Hafeez Centre, but they were ignored,” he said.
“We advised them to change their wiring on a priority basis as it was very old. When the wiring was installed more than 10 years ago not all shops had air conditioners. But now there are ACs and other electric appliances running on the same wiring and meters.”
Dr Raza said that Hafeez Centre also needed to establish an emergency escape route. “In a fire, people panic. Without an emergency exit there can be a chaos and a stampede,” he said.
He said that the water vault at Hafeez Centre had been vandalised. “During Thursday’s fire, when Rescue 1122 workers tried to attach the water pipe with the water vault, they found that much of the equipment in the vault was stolen. The fire fighting vehicles had to use Pace’s water vault,” he said.
Lahore Development Authority officials said that inspecting buildings for fire safety was the job of the Civil Defence Department. But Civil Defence Officer Tariq Waheed said that the governor had withdrawn this power from CDOs five years ago.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 12th, 2010.
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