Mayor Karachi Barrister Murtaza Wahab said on Tuesday that only six out of 266 buildings on the city’s three main corridors, II Chandrigar Road, Sharea Faisal, and Shahrah-e-Quaideen have fire safety facilities, while more than 200 buildings do not have fire extinguishers.

“According to an audit report, 62% of the buildings did not have emergency exits, while 70% of the buildings were found to have substandard electrical wiring. Only 90 of the 266 buildings had fire alarms and smoke detectors. All concerned deputy commissioners have been recommended to provide facilities and support to the fire brigade officials,” he said while reviewing the fire safety audit report of the buildings located around the three main highways of Karachi presented by the fire brigade department of Karachi Metropolitan Corporation.

Mr Wahab said that after the incidents of fire in different buildings of the city, it was decided to conduct a complete fire audit of the buildings near the main highways and major roads in Karachi so that such incidents could be avoided in future and the city administration could fulfill its responsibilities to protect the life and property of the citizens.

The Karachi mayor said that in the initial phase, the fire brigade department of Karachi Metropolitan Corporation conducted a detailed inspection of 266 buildings at the II Chandrigar Road, Sharea Faisal and Shahrah-e-Quaideen and completed the process of fire safety audit, and in the light of the report, all necessary steps would be taken.

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He said that there are large and important commercial and business centers around these three main highways of Karachi, where there is a concern due to the lack of satisfactory arrangements for fire prevention. One should realize the responsibilities and instead of waiting for the accident to happen, should ensure complete preventive measures in this regard, he added.

As responsible and dutiful citizens, we also must play our part to protect our lives and the property of others, Mayor Karachi said and added that after the report of fire safety audit, it had also been recommended to ban the entry of all unnecessary NGOs to the place where fire incident happened, while the Sindh Building Control Authority and the people living in the buildings had been instructed to take necessary measures to avoid such incidents.