KARACHI witnessed more than a few fires late last year. Several people were burnt to death in Karachi factory fire in August. A fire broke out in a warehouse on M.A Jinnah Road in October. A fire erupted on the fifth floor of a multistorey shopping centre in November, and, finally, flames engulfed a garment warehouse in Saddar Cooperative Market the same month.

One of the most common causes of workplace fires without doubt are electrical faults. They tend to be caused by defective and open wiring, overloaded sockets or plugs, drawing electric power without receptacles.

Water sprinklers are often not installed or are defective. Fire extinguishers are also not installed or not serviceable and people are not trained for their correct usage.

Emergency lights are also not present and there are no carbon/smoke and fire alarm. Recently, I saw a few programmes on television about the cottage industry in Karachi where socks, nuts and bolts, jerseys, sweaters and caps are produced.

All spoke of earning millions of rupees monthly, but the setup was regrettable. Substandard electrical wiring was quite evident. There was congested working space without any fire extinguisher.

The city administration must enforce stringent inspection system to save human life and property from fire.

Syed Ahmed
Ontario, Canada

Published in Dawn, January 12th, 2022