Karachi fire department criminally ill-equipped

KARACHI: Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) fire department is on the verge of collapse and any adverse situation in the city could lead to a disaster, sources revealed on Wednesday.

According to sources, 10 fire stations out of 24 in the metropolis had been closed down due to poor performance of department officials and non-repairing of machinery.

Sources disclosed out of 70 vehicles at the fire department, only 11 are in good condition and the remaining 59 vehicles were out of order.

However, KMC has awarded the contract for repair of fire brigade vehicles to a private company owner, Yaseen & Co. for five million per annum, sources said.

Sources further said not a single vehicle has been repaired and handed over to the fire brigade department since Yaseen & Co. was awarded the vehicle repair contract.

Of the city’s 24 fire stations, only 14 have the capacity to respond to emergencies as the remaining 10 fire stations don’t have functional vehicles.

While, many stations have been closed for the last two years, including Malir Fire Station, Maymar Fire Station, Hawkesbury Fire Station, Baldia Town, Manzoor Colony, Gulistan-e-Jauhar and Lyari Fire Station.

Surprisingly, “There is no head of the department while Senior Director HRM Jamil Farooqi has appointed Ghulam Fakhruddin as Chief Fire Officer after receiving an enormous bribe of money”, sources added.

Earlier the court had issued an order to remove Ghulam Fakhruddin from his post immediately as he was a junior officer and he was also removed. However, despite the presence of senior officials, Fakhr-Uddin has been re-appointed and contempt of court has been made.

Citizens have now requested Chief Minister Sindh and other concerned authorities to take notice of the present situation of the fire brigade department and to play its role in solving the problems of the department as soon as possible.