Karachi : The Sindh government has been extending the best possible support to Rescue 1122 and KMC’s Fire Department to protect lives and properties whenever fire emergencies threaten Karachi’s high-rises and industries.
Sindh Minister for Planning & Development and Energy Minister, Syed Nasir Hussain Shah, stated this while speaking as the chief guest at the 14th Fire Safety & Security Convention-2024 organised by the National Forum for Environment and Health (NFEH).
The Planning and Development Minister stated that the provincial government has been meeting the needs of the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation and the Rescue 1122 service. This effort ensures that both agencies have access to the latest firefighting and rescue equipment and machinery, helping to minimize losses during fire emergencies, he added.
He said the provincial government was fully cognisant of its obligations in this regard but it was equally important that concerned businessmen and industrialists should also show responsibility to pre-empt fire emergencies.
He said the industries and multi-storeyed commercial buildings in Karachi should have adequate safety arrangements against fire incidents. These safety measures should have been taken given the recurring fire emergencies in Karachi causing massive loss of lives and precious properties, he said.
The Planning and Development Minister proposed the formation of a task force to implement fire safety laws by industries and businesses in Karachi. He said the proposed task force should comprise representatives of the government, relevant civic agencies, industrialists and businessmen to discuss and finalise the strategy to ensure compliance with the fire safety laws by the private sector.
Ahmed Azeem Alvi, President SITE Association of Industry, suggested that the curriculum for school education and vocational training in Pakistan should include fire safety as a compulsory subject to ensure that the younger generation is trained to deal with fire emergencies.
He said the government should incentivise small businesses and industries to adopt the fire safety protocol to protect their workforce and assets.
Alvi suggested that the relevant government agencies and representatives of the businesses and industries should enhance their coordination to prevent fire emergencies in urban areas.
Junaid Naqi, President of the Korangi Association of Trade & Industry, said that fire safety laws should be taught to school-going children in Pakistan like Japanese students compulsorily are trained to deal with earthquake disasters.
He urged the industries to adopt safety laws and the latest technology to prevent the loss of precious lives of labourers due to fire emergencies.
Rehana Yasmeen, Rescue Commander at Sindh Emergency Rescue Service, said the Rescue 1122 service in Sindh had so far attended to over 700,000 cases of medical emergencies and 22,000 road traffic accidents to save precious lives in distress.
She said that soon motorcycle-based rescue service would be launched in Karachi given that emergency assistance couldn’t timely reach densely populated areas where congested roads and streets didn’t allow the operation of the regular vehicles used by the first responders.
She told the audience that 79 female rescuers had so far been hired by Rescue 1122 service to lower the gender disparity in the provision of services by emergency relief organisations.
Mahboob Ali Shaikh, Commandant Federal Civil Defence Training School in Karachi, said that his training school had been imparting free-of-charge fire safety and disaster relief training to the volunteers since 1950.
He urged people to have medical first-aid kits in their homes and vehicles to quickly deal with medical emergencies without waiting for ambulance arrival.
Fire Protection Industry of Pakistan President, Imran Taj, emphasised strict compliance with fire safety by-laws by the Pakistani construction sector.
NFEH President, Naeem Qureshi, said the private sector, NGOs, and government agencies should work together to prevent fire disasters in urban areas.
Ruqiya Naeem, NFEH General Secretary, stressed the need for modernising Karachi’s fire brigade service.
Nadeem Ashraf, NFEH Vice President, said that industrialists in Pakistan should comply with international fire safety regulations to protect their workforce and better serve their international contractors.
Also on the occasion, the Planning and Development Minister conferred the 14th Fire Safety Awards to 45 companies and industries for showing outstanding performance in the field of fire safety.
