Sitting on volcano
Fires are a common phenomenon in Karachi
By Shahid Husain
An electrical short-circuit started a fire last Sunday in the IT section of the Gulshan-e-Iqbal Town office in Karachi. The City District Government Karachi (CDGK) immediately called fire tenders which extinguished the blaze and prevented major losses. A spokesperson of the Town told TNS that servers, printers, UPS, projectors, scanners, modems, telephone exchanges, monitors, printer cartridges, toners, and fire extinguishers stored in a single room had been damaged. The data in the server was also kept as a backup so it was not lost. The IT room contains all the records of salaries and budgets and it was also saved by the watch and ward of the Town office.

management
Plans that backfired
Lack of access to building plans and violations within them often hamper rescue work
By Shahzada Irfan Ahmed
The lack of proper building plans at the disposal of fire-fighters is one of the foremost problems faced by them during rescue operations. Unaware of the pathways leading to the spot inside a building where fire erupted, they have to jump blindly into the fire even at the risk of their lives.

Short of what?
The blame of every other fire incident is put on short-circuiting. Why?
By Shahzada Irfan Ahmed
As soon as flames of fire engulfing a building structure become obvious, the blame is put on accidental short-circuiting in some part of it. In such incidents, hardly any one finds the need to hold an inquiry before issuing a statement and it is assumed that nobody would challenge this assertion.

Off the mark-et
Encroachments, illegal structures, traffic jams with no fire extinguishing facilities, no rescue arrangements and no safe exits. Welcome to Lahore's Shah Alam Market
By Waqar Gillani
Located in the heart of the historic walled city of Lahore, Shah Alam is one of the biggest wholesale markets in Punjab. Buyers come to the market to shop, especially for home appliances, goods etc., 90 percent of which are imported from China while the rest are locally manufactured. Generally, the market does the business worth millions of rupees on a daily basis. By virtue of its location, the market presents a very important case study of a commercial building that can turn the whole surrounding area into hell if a part of it catches fire. Unfortunately, the much dreaded incident happened only recently.

The fire at Gakhar Plaza in Rawalpindi ought to be an eye-opener for the authorities; an incident where so many lives, including those of the fire-fighters, were lost and for no reason. The loss of property was, of course, secondary.

Every time there is a fire accident, we ask the same questions. What caused the fire? Who designed the building? Were the fire-codes in place? What caused the short-circuiting? What happened to the fire exits? Was it an intentional fire, to make insurance claims or burn records or cancel the lease? Why is the fire-fighting mechanism so shoddy? Why can't we have ladders to reach the upper storeys?

In fact these are all shoddy, irrelevant questions. Unnecessarily asked and hence never satisfactorily answered. The futility of the questions is proved because every few months there is breaking news about a huge fire in Lahore, or Karachi or Rawalpindi or Islamabad.

The real questions, we feel, have not been asked ever. Do we have a national fire-fighting policy? Where does the policy stem from? Who is supposed to implement it and how? What are the authorities doing to make people aware? Why do we never see fire drills the way they are done in societies that care? Does anyone realize that a single life saved after five years of fire drills is an exercise worth doing?

Our sense is that even Gakhar Plaza has not been an eye-opener. There are isolated half-hearted solutions like Rescue 1122 and that too in only one province which will not generate the desired results. Till the right questions are asked and their answers found, we will keep relying on prayers to save us from calamities like fire, especially when we see hundreds of dangerously dangling wires inside shopping plazas. Till the right questions are asked, our businesses will keep flouting the building bye-laws and avoid making fire-exits by paying penalties instead.

We must realize that the fire may break out anytime anywhere, without a care about if the right questions have been asked or not. The authorities must wake up to this first question: What if the fire breaks out?

In the National Disaster Management Commission (NDMC) meeting on January 3, chaired by Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani, it was decided that the Civil Defence organisations would be integrated. The meeting approved the allocation of financial resources to the national and provincial disaster management funds, besides streamlining disaster management as a one-window operation.

Regarding legislation to declare violation of building codes a criminal offence, the Prime Minister directed the Ministry of Housing and Works as well as the Ministry of Communication to incorporate relevant clauses in the proposed bill before it is sent to the Parliament.

The PM also directed the provincial and district disaster management authorities to become operational by July 1, 2009.

Interestingly, ever since the NDMA was formed, bypassing the then parliament, through a Dec 2006 ordinance, it was for the first time decided that its annual report was presented before the parliament for approval. This is obviously intended to generate the much needed political will.

Further, the meeting approved the setting up of urban search and rescue teams being raised in Islamabad (86 members), Lahore (86 members) and Karachi (52 members). This would help reduce mortality rate in emergencies and disasters, particularly in accidents that involve collapse of building structures.

The national, provincial and district disaster management, preparedness and risk prevention setup provides an overall framework and political mechanism to carry out the activities which is essentially the task of respective municipal authorities and other departments.

For example, already in most areas of the Punjab district, Rescue 1122 service has been operational since the enactment of the Punjab Emergency Service Act 2006 which calls for a professional management of emergency situations by maintaining a state of preparedness and providing timely response and medical treatment to the victims.

In addition, disaster management is being introduced as a subject of curriculum in the schools, from classes I-XII, starting from the new academic year. This is meant to introduce self-safety methods to the new generation.

However, as the next generation prepares itself to meet any accidental fires, the fact remains that fire outbreaks could be the result of a human folly, an electric short-circuiting or an act of terrorism.

In Punjab alone, in the last couple of years, Rescue 1122 has received over six thousands calls of fire incidents.

Although short-circuiting is often cited as a lame excuse which, in limited cases, might be true, the main cause of fire in mainstream shopping plazas and hotels has also been non-existent or inefficient smoke sensors, fire exits, not-ready-to-use extinguishers and no regular periodic rehearsals.

Soon after the burning of Islamabad Marriott in the September terrorists' act, Ejaz Ahmed, President, Institute of Architect Pakistan, commented that it was apparent from the death toll at the hotel that some safety, fire-fighting and evacuation measures had not worked, resulting in loss of life even though the fire moved very slowly upwards in the building.

He added, "It is a proven fact that smoke kills more people than fire itself in such incidents. If the corridors are engulfed in smoke, then the people simply cannot see the way to the fire exit staircases and they are overcome. The staircases also need smoke evacuation in order to ensure that those who reach them can leave the building safely.

"Marriott was only a five-storey building, and we saw so many casualties. Come to think of it, what could happen to 30-, 40- and 50-storey structures we are planning without any proper system!"

An inquiry into the 1993 incident of fire in the National Assembly building which reduced its hall to ashes found that on the night of the incident, the automatic fire alarm system was not working because it had been turned off on an earlier occasion when it gave some false alarm because of cigarette smoke. The system was switched to a manually operated system to be supervised by a duty officer. The fire was started by the sparks from one of the 300-plus overheated fluorescent tube lights in the Assembly Hall which, understandably, were never switched off. On the day of the fire it was a public holiday the fire alarm operation room was unmanned and locked, and the fire remained undetected until many hours later.

Sadly however, no lessons were learnt. In 2002, a 17-storey Shaheed-e-Millat Secretariat caught fire, this time resulting in a loss of precious official documents, mainly because the fire was not detected in time and the fire brigade weren't equipped with ladders that could reach up to floor 10 of the building.

The story of last month's gutting of Gakhar Plaza in Rawalpindi is not much different. Fire erupted in the plaza that was home to some 600 well-stuffed shops. But, again, the building did not have any smoke sensors or fire exits. Next day, when the rescue operation was still on, the building collapsed completely, burying alive many including 10 rescue workers while 63 others sustained multiple injuries. All this loss of property and human life could have been avoided or minimised, had the concerned owner or holders of the shops complied with the safety standards which are very much within their financial reach. As the advance, commonly known as 'pugri', of a big shop was said to be 7-10 million rupees.

The Shaheed-e-Millat building triggered a debate for making fire protection legislation, which resulted in the draft of Pakistan Emergency Services Ordinance and the second on Pakistan Emergency and Fire Code. The major role, in this regard, was played by the Fire Protection Association of Pakistan, a non- governmental organisation of fire protection professionals in the private and public sector.

The ordinance also sought to provide for the setting up of a new federal Pakistan Emergency and Fire Council which would be tasked with formulating and then implementing a code of rules, regulations and specifications regarding the safety of life and property from fires, explosions and other hazardous materials.

The proposed Rescue and Fire Service, an amalgamation of the Civil Defence Department and the Fire Brigade, was also mandated to inspect any building or premises for hazardous conditions as mentioned in the proposed Pakistan Emergency and Fire Code, and also to investigate the cause, the origin and the circumstances of all such incidents.

Although there has been some movement on the issue at the provincial level, a lot needs to be done with regard to the enforcement of regulations. For instance, every building, especially educational institutions and the high-rise ones, should have fire exits, fire escapes, smoke detectors, fire detectors or fire-fighting systems (e.g. automatic fire alarm, automatic fire extinguishing/hydrant system, automatic smoke extraction/exhaust system, etc). In addition, it should be ensured that proper rehearsals are done to keep these safety mechanisms alive.

Finally, the fire-fighters should not just be equipped properly, they should also be respected as heroes of the society. A proper data base and reports of fire incidents need to be maintained to learn how to prevent future fires.

Sitting on volcano

An electrical short-circuit started a fire last Sunday in the IT section of the Gulshan-e-Iqbal Town office in Karachi. The City District Government Karachi (CDGK) immediately called fire tenders which extinguished the blaze and prevented major losses. A spokesperson of the Town told TNS that servers, printers, UPS, projectors, scanners, modems, telephone exchanges, monitors, printer cartridges, toners, and fire extinguishers stored in a single room had been damaged. The data in the server was also kept as a backup so it was not lost. The IT room contains all the records of salaries and budgets and it was also saved by the watch and ward of the Town office.

However, all fires are not of minor in nature. The entire record of Pakistan National Shipping Corporation (PNSC) was burnt to ashes last year when a mysterious fire engulfed it on a Sunday. Similarly, the record of Sindh Board of Revenue was also burnt mysteriously last year.

An inquiry committee was set up to ascertain the causes of fire but nothing substantial came out of the probe.

On April 9, 2008, people were horrified when the goons of an ethnic organisation burnt alive an advocate and five other people when they torched two officers in Tahir Plaza in the city during the lawyers' movement.

But these incidents appear to be miniscule if one thinks about a fire in Old Karachi including Ranchore Lane, Kharadar, Mithadar, Eidgah, Barnes Road etc where alleys are so narrow that fire brigades can't enter them and millions of people are at constant risk because there are many chemical dumps there. God forbid, if a fire erupts there, a disaster of great magnitude is imminent.

"Two to three cases of fire come up in the city every day," said Qamar, an Edhi Foundation staffer, talking to TNS. "Mostly, it erupts due to short-circuit or burning of garage at different places."

Anwar Kazmi, spokesman for Edhi Foundation, praised the staff of Fire Brigades and said that despite their limited resources they had personal commitment and often lost their lives in the course of extinguishing fire.

Building bye-laws are openly flouted in the mega city, making citizens prone to worst kinds of fire. "Karachi Building and Town Planning Regulations 2004 provide for basic fire exit in public buildings in the category of multi-storey buildings. Thus, all the buildings made in this category must have a fire exit staircase which should be separate from the main staircase of vertical transportation," Dr Noman Ahmed, Professor and Chairman, Department of Architecture and Planning, NED University of Engineering and Technology, told TNS.

He said that most of the buildings which were reviewed by Karachi Building Control Authority (KBCA) had the provision for fire exit at least in the stage of approval. "However, when they are constructed, this provision is often compromised and a sizeable number of buildings which are constructed by builders in violation of building bye-laws do not have fire exit provision," Prof Ahmed said.

Mohammad Nauman, an associate professor at NED University of Engineering and Technology, and a former technical advisor to erstwhile Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC), said that in pre-partition days separate staircases existed in buildings and the phenomenon continued till mid-1960s. However, a blatant violation of building bye-laws began with the exit of the first generation of civil servants.

"Shopping plazas and many buildings now often use plastics and artificial fibre material that is highly inflammable," he said. "And since there are no separate fire exits, a disaster can always take place if a fire erupts in these buildings."

He also pointed out that the number of snorkels at the disposal of city government is inadequate.

"Fifty fire tenders were inducted in Karachi Metropolitan Corporation when Fahim uz Zaman Khan was its administrator in early 1990s and I don't think there has been any other induction since then.

"Then the staff of fire brigades should be trained how to extinguish fire that erupts due to burning of chemicals," he told TNS.

On the top of that the City District Government Karachi (CDGK) has been reportedly outsourcing the maintenance of its fire tenders that is said be costing local authorities a massive amount of Rs 10 million per annum. These workshops have not been operational for more than one year for unknown reasons and their staff is either sitting idle of working elsewhere.

It's high time that the city administrators paid heed to imminent danger of fire and made sure that building bye-laws are strictly implemented and violators are punished.

The lack of proper building plans at the disposal of fire-fighters is one of the foremost problems faced by them during rescue operations. Unaware of the pathways leading to the spot inside a building where fire erupted, they have to jump blindly into the fire even at the risk of their lives.

In the case of Gakhar Plaza, some fire-fighters even lost their lives for this very reason. They had entered the plaza through the main gate and never returned. They did not know that the emergency exit had been closed illegally and the fireball was moving towards the entrance.

In countries with developed mechanisms for fire-fighting, the rescuers even use air-conditioning ducts for entering a building on fire or vacating those trapped inside. But this is possible only if the fire-fighters get an accurate building plan within moments of fire breaking out.

An analysis of different incidents reveals that most of the times rescue operations are conducted without proper knowledge of building plans. A major reason for this is the non-availability of digital graphic data that can be shared electronically and retrieved instantly at the time of need. Instead the building plans of structures are lying in dust-coated files in disorganised offices of development authorities and town planning departments of different cities and towns.

An official in the Lahore Development Authority's (LDA's) town planning department tells TNS that it is a pity that no single office is responsible for keeping record of building plans in Lahore. The official who does not want his name to be disclosed says the building plans of some areas are approved and maintained by LDA whereas the towns are responsible for areas falling under their jurisdiction. For example, he says, if fire breaks out in a building on Mall Road, the LDA will not have the plan with it.

The official says it is very difficult to get hold of building plans at the time of emergency. Secondly, he says the concerned departments are reluctant to share building plans as most of the time they have been violated by building owners in connivance with town officials. They fear their wrong-doings will be exposed due to this and the people and the media will place all the responsibility on them. It is hoped that the concerned departments will be issued instructions by the court to rectify all errors made in the past.

The official says the international best practice is that the building and floor plans are placed at the entrance as well as the floors of the building. But this is not the practice here, as doing this could expose all the violations made by the builders, he adds.

Rescue 1122's Fire and Rescue Deputy Director Nauman Noor tells TNS that the non-availability of accurate building plans affects their work badly. "First, these are not available and if, by chance, they are there, it's no use having them."

He says there have been incidents where fire-fighters have found the structures to be quite different from those described in the original building plans. Therefore, their use may be harmful as they would misguide the rescue workers.

Nauman who was also present at Gakhar Plaza during the rescue operation says he was told that the plaza's emergency exit had been closed "to ward off thieves who would often enter the building".

In another incident he found that the whole floor of a building did not have even a single window or opening. Fire in such cases can become unbearable as smoke and the flames do not find a way out and the place becomes hot like an oven, he adds. If the door is opened, the flames jump outside to get a supply of oxygen or fresh air. A firefighter unaware of the floor plan will be completely at a loss in such a situation.

Talking about ways to improve the situation, Nauman says that Rescue 1122 is working on some guidelines about building plans and compliance with them. "We intend to get them distributed among the stakeholders through the home department and will also involve the district government in the whole exercise."

According to Nauman, another issue that needs to be taken care of is the regularisation of a building violation after the fine has been paid. This practice, he says, should be discouraged and replaced by imposing severer penalties such as the demolition of a wrongly constructed portion, floor or a building.

Once the database of revised building plans is prepared, after an inspection of the buildings, and shared electronically among different departments, the fire-fighters will find themselves in a better situation to carry out rescue operations, he adds.

As soon as flames of fire engulfing a building structure become obvious, the blame is put on accidental short-circuiting in some part of it. In such incidents, hardly any one finds the need to hold an inquiry before issuing a statement and it is assumed that nobody would challenge this assertion.

Though there are quarters that smell a rat in this practice, most of the time the investigators also mention short-circuiting to be the cause of accidental fires. Perhaps, it is for this reason that any evidence that a fire was started intentionally is often destroyed by the fire itself.

Secondly, a visit to a typical government or commercial building would reveal how carelessly electric cables are managed there, waiting for an imminent disaster to hit the place. That is why, everybody is ready to believe that the 'long due' short-circuiting in such cases is the main cause.

Many people blame electric supply companies for the mess but they (the companies) openly challenge the claim. For example, Mazhar Abbas, a metre inspector in Lahore Electric Supply Company (Lesco) tells TNS that they are responsible for the cables leading to the metres installed at the sites. Beyond those points the owners of the buildings and the contractors are responsible for installing quality cables. In commercial plazas, Lesco often installs bulk metres from where connections to individual metres emanate.

Mazhar says Lesco officials inspect a site at the time of installation of a transformer there and assure that the load applied for is enough to cater for the power need of the building. But what happens is that with the passage of time the load increases, leading to the heating up and melting of electric cables. In many cases the increase in load is due to the installation of additional air-conditioners and electric heaters.

He says it is desired that the building administration must apply for additional load in this case and install stronger cables. But this does not happen normally. If Lesco discovers a case of extended load it issues the violators a notice and suspends power supply to building.

Tariq Iqbal, a trader in Shah Alam Market, Lahore, tells TNS that unfortunately not even the shopkeepers take the hanging and naked wires seriously. Secondly, he says, the sale of substandard cables is also increasing by the day, and there is no authority to check this malpractice. That is why, the cable manufacturers have started using iron instead of copper (a relatively expensive but safer material) in their products.

According to Tariq, building contractors often use this cable to maximise their profits at the cost of people's life and money.

Tariq suggests that the plaza administration should regularly monitor the quality of wires used in their construction and replace them in case they are in poor condition. He says that short-circuiting is caused when the hot wire touches another hot wire or if there is a break in a wire in the circuit. The chance of such contact between wires is quite high in our buildings as one can see naked wires everywhere.

Located in the heart of the historic walled city of Lahore, Shah Alam is one of the biggest wholesale markets in Punjab. Buyers come to the market to shop, especially for home appliances, goods etc., 90 percent of which are imported from China while the rest are locally manufactured. Generally, the market does the business worth millions of rupees on a daily basis. By virtue of its location, the market presents a very important case study of a commercial building that can turn the whole surrounding area into hell if a part of it catches fire. Unfortunately, the much dreaded incident happened only recently.

As the reports go, a huge fire erupted inside Al-Noor Plaza, Sunday last, burning goods worth millions of rupees.

Apparently, fire had broken out due to short-circuiting in the multi-storey building that also boasts a wide basement area. The fire started in the cotton godown of the plaza, engulfing the entire building in no time. A strong stench emitting from ashes makes it hard for people to get into the building remains or to pass by. The rescuers were also unable to take control of the situation because the inflammable material placed in the adjacent godowns started catching fire one after the other. A few fire-fighters also fell unconscious at the site.

According to local elders, the market, currently with more than 20,000 shops and godowns, started growing in mid-1980s, beginning with the demolition of old houses and their conversion into plazas and markets. At that time, most of the area was residential. The streets were not that narrow as they are today.

TNS visited the market and found the entire area packed to capacity with people. Nobody could cross the otherwise wide roads.

Moreover, those supported by local mafias, have encroached upon the whole area that is causing serious traffic mess. The illegal structures are so high that the encroachments take the shape of an overhead.

On the other side, where they had the permission to have one godown, people have constructed three level basements that also extend underneath the roads and streets. Vendors who own the encroachments have to pay the local Qabza mafia on a daily basis.

Muhammad Amjad, a local resident, told TNS that the Punjab government, in late 1990s, had demolished an illegal plaza and constructed a health dispensary at a roundabout in the area. Ten years on, there is no sign of the dispensary. The whole place is controlled by the local mafia, allegedly a bunch of well-connected people who also have the blessings of the representatives of different traders' organisations. The debris of the demolished plaza is also on sight.

Amjad said, "It used to be a peaceful area, but some influential people banded together and commercialised the place, turning it into a wholesale market. Later, of course, as the value of the land increased, the local Qabza mafia entered the scene. They started buying houses and converted them into illegal, high-rise buildings, making markets and basements in the godowns."

Most of the material used in the market is easily combustible and stored in shops and godowns. Serious traffic jams and road blockades have become a routine.

What is most horrifying is the fact that these illegal and legal structures (of Shah Alam market) are not equipped to deal with any emergency. They have no fire extinguishing facilities, no rescue arrangements, and no safe exit places.

Haji Munir Ahmed, Chairman, Shah Alam Market Board, did not seem much concerned about the issue. "We have been asking the government to shift the market or provide facilities for the past several years, but no heed has been paid to us. What can we expect from the government when it has failed to shift Akbari Mandi outside Lahore despite promises made many years ago," he said.

Munir was of the view that if a major fire incident occurred it would affect the entire city of Lahore. "We have no expectations from the government."

He added that the gradual growth of the market had increased the value of the land sharply.

Talking to TNS, Noman Noor, Deputy Director (fire and rescue) of Rescue 1122, said, "There is an urgent need to build water hydrants at every small distance with round-the-clock supply of water.

"The government should disallow the construction of godowns in the city and residential areas. Besides, it should shift the existing ones to open areas and also remove encroachments and devise a smooth traffic plan."

In the wake of the fire explosion in Shah Alam, the City District Government Lahore (CDGL), on the instructions of the Punjab government, has started work on the plan to force such markets and plazas to properly display their officially approved map of the plaza and take proper security measures in the future. A committee has been set up, in this regard, to prepare guidelines on the issue, a senior official of the CDGL told TNS.

Importantly, this is not the case with only one market in Lahore. The fire incidents in the city, according to a Rescue 1122 report, increased by almost 70 percent in the year 2008, compared to 2007. The number of reported cases of fire in the provincial capital was 1,078 in 2008. On the other hand, against the estimated 10 million population of Lahore, the Rescue 1122 has only one 105-foot long ladder, a 60-foot long aerial platform, 15 engines, two water bruisers, three rescue vehicles, 22 ambulances and 500 rescuers. The city fire brigade units, which are currently working separately, are also expected to work under Rescue 1122 soon.

Ground realities

Reasons that can lead to a major disaster

. Highly congested area

. 100 percent combustible material in shops and godowns

. Old structures (of buildings)

. Narrow streets

. Heavy encroachments

. Traffic mess

. No civil defence training

. No proper rescue facilities and equipment

. No fire extinguishing, emergency arrangements

. No water hydrants

. Lack of rescue arrangements

. Short-circuiting

. Power tripping

. Zero governance and no rule of law

. Highly careless attitude

. Substandard use of electricity wires