Karachi faced another fire tragedy as over 10 people lost their lives and 22 were injured in a blaze at RJ Mall on city’s Rashid Minhas Road.
According to initial reports, the cause of the fire was short-circuited. According to the fire brigade officials said that the fire had spread from the sixth floor to the fourth floor, and dozens of shops had been burnt due to the fire.
As usual, after the incident, the authorities said that there was no fire exit in the building, where a number of offices were running, while Karachi Mayor Murtaza Wahab said that the building plan was not legal.
How long will the people keep buying this narrative after every major incident? The building was illegal, there was no fire exit, and there were no protocols?. If this is the case, what is the city’s concerned department doing? why they were not aware that a shopping mall located in the center of the city is illegal?
Similarly, the authorities have announced carrying out a detailed probe to determine the responsible, but it seems the matter will be put on the backburner as all other major incidents have been in the past.
Recently, city planners, engineers, and building plan experts gathered at a symposium raised serious concerns, stating that approximately 90% of all structures in Karachi, including residential, commercial, and industrial buildings, lack fire prevention and firefighting systems. They deemed this situation as ‘criminal negligence’ on the part of regulatory bodies such as the Sindh Building Control Authority (SBCA), putting millions of lives at risk in the metropolis.
The experts highlighted data indicating that over 15,000 people lose their lives and suffer losses exceeding a trillion rupees annually due to fire accidents across the country. These incidents primarily occur in urban areas, where a majority of structures are raised in violation of defined building rules.
The National Fire Safety Symposium & Risk-Based Awards, organized by the Fire Protection Association of Pakistan (FPAP), served as a platform for experts from across Pakistan to present papers, share experiences, and discuss fire prevention and safety.
The experts warned that the growing number of concrete structures without adherence to defined building codes poses serious threats to hundreds of thousands of lives. They urged the government to expedite the effective implementation of fire prevention and firefighting laws before the situation becomes irreparable.
The authorities should act promptly and check the status of the buildings which are lacking the security protocols else we will keep mourning and playing blame games after every major incident.
