Karachi : The concerned members of civil society have demanded that the government should conduct proper safety audits of all official, commercial, and industrial buildings on an immediate basis to prevent recurring deadly fire incidents in Karachi.They made this demand while speaking at a press conference on “Who should be blamed for frequent fire incidents”. Those who spoke on the occasion said the city’s administration, relevant civic agencies, public, traders’ bodies, and chamber of commerce, had to work collectively for the long-pending implementation of the fire safety rules. Speaking on the occasion, the President of the Fire Protection Industry of Pakistan, 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 for dealing with any fire emergency. He said the fire safety equipment should be available in working condition at the commercial and high-rise buildings whose occupants should know how to handle the firefighting equipment. He said the commercial organisations should conduct training sessions and drills to keep their employees abreast of the latest fire safety protocols. 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 in the city as he hoped that the judiciary would play its role in providing justice to the victims.National Forum for Environment and Health President Naeem Qureshi said that almost 15,000 people had lost their lives due to around 900 fire incidents in the country in a year. Qureshi told media persons that around 1,50,000 people sustained injuries due to the frequent fire incidents. He said the frequent fire incidents caused a property loss of accumulative Rs 1,000 billion value. He said the people instead of relying on the administration and civic agencies should give value to the fire safety rules and ensure their implementation.He disclosed that fire safety equipment in up to 80 per cent of high-rise buildings and factories in Karachi were faulty. The NFEH President demanded that the government and concerned civic agencies should work collectively for effective enforcement of the fire safety rules.Zulfiqar Shah of the Sajjan Union of the 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 functional. He said the payment of overtime to the firemen in the city had been pending for the past four months. He said the fire engines available with the city’s fire brigade lacked maintenance. Shah said the issue of encroachments around fire stations in Karachi hindered the free movement of the fire engines for dealing with any fire emergency. Also speaking on the occasion, representatives of different concerned NGOs said that a mass awareness campaign on fire safety rules should be conducted through conventional mass and social media. They said the shopping malls and high-rise buildings should build fire and emergency exists and make them fully serviceable. They demanded that the high-rise buildings and shopping plazas should voluntarily review their fire safety preparations. They also 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. Nadeem Ashraf, Rizwan, Jaffar, Farrukh, and Saleem Michael Advocate also spoke on the occasion.
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