• Gul Plaza commission informed the authority was transferred to Civil Defence and Rescue 1122 under new law last December
• Ambulance driver testifies that rescue officials stopped them from breaking windows while trapped people were seeking help

KARACHI: In what could be seen as shifting responsibility of the deadly Gul Plaza fire to other institutions, the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) on Thursday informed the judicial commission that the authority to conduct fire and safety audit vested with the civil defence and Rescue 1122.

The municipal commissioner in a written reply to various questions of the commission also asserted that the firefighting service was assigned to the KMC under the local government law, but the emergency rescue service law has transferred firefighting and rescue functions to Rescue 1122.

The single-member commission headed by Justice Agha Faisal of the Sindh High Court, tasked with probing the devastating blaze, also recorded the testimonies of over 20 drivers of the Edhi Foundation and the Chhipa Welfare Association.

Two of the ambulance drivers deposed that they had managed to drive their vehicles to the upper floors of the building to rescue trapped people through ramp after removing a locked iron gate while only two entrance / exit point were opened when the fire engulfed the building.

In her reply to the questionnaires of the commission, municipal commissioner Sumera Hussain submitted that the KMC is a land-owning agency and grants lease in respect of the land upon which Gul Plaza was built and its statutory responsibility about surrounding roads is limited to development and maintenance, as well as removal of encroachments from the main arterial thoroughfares.

She also said that the removal of encroachments from internal streets around Gul Plaza falls within the jurisdiction of the town municipal corporation of Saddar.

“Responsibility of conducting fire and safety audit vests with Directorate of Civil Defence under the Civil Defence Act, 1952 and Sindh Emergency Rescue Service 1122 under the Sindh Emergency Rescue Service Act, 2023. These special statutes prevail over the Sindh Local Government Act, 2013 under the principle of ‘generalia specialibus non derogant’,” she added.

The municipal commissioner in her response further contended that under the Sindh Local Government Act 2013, firefighting service was assigned to the KMC, but the Sindh Emergency Rescue Service Act 2023 transferred firefighting and rescue functions to the Rescue 1122 and the City Council in its meeting held in December last year had approved initiation of transfer of fire services to the Rescue 1122.

She was of the view that the KMC has voluntarily conducted fire safety audit of over 200 buildings and shared report with Commissioner of Karachi Division in January 2024.

However, no tangible action was undertaken thereafter by district administration as under National Disaster Management Act 2010, the district disaster management authorities existed in each district with deputy commissioner concerned as chairperson while urban fire is categorised as disaster under PDMA guidelines, she maintained.

About a question regarding accessible roads on the date of incident, she replied that traffic congestion existed due to ongoing construction of BRT Green Line Project on M.A. Jinnah Road while there were no encroachments existed on the main thoroughfare, but parking by private shopkeepers and public as well as a large crowd gathering around the building affected mobility.

The municipal commissioner also submitted that the central fire station of fire department KMC had received a call from one Samad on the designated number “16” at 10:26pm and the fire department had immediately dispatched a fire tender at 10:27pm which arrived at Gul Plaza at around 10:37pm while heavy machinery, including cranes, excavators, jackhammers, dumpers and loaders were deployed as the fire crew, city wardens and other staff of municipal services assisted throughout the operation.

About coordination of the KMC with the fire brigade and others, she asserted that the fire department responded promptly and traffic police, police and rescue 1122 were also present on the spot as the KMC has no administrative control over these agencies, however all agencies worked concurrently.

Mr Ayaz of Chhipa Welfare Association deposed that he had reached Gul Plaza within 15 minutes after receiving information about the incident and fire had not spread to other floors when he arrived at the site.

The driver also said that he drove his ambulance to the third floor through the ramp of the building while two other vehicles were already there to rescue the trapped people.

Initially, there was only one fire tender available at the site which had disposed of its entire water stock and the second fire tender had arrived after around an hour while a snorkel had reached the site around 12am when the blaze had engulfed the entire building, he maintained.

He further asserted that the rescue officials/personnel had asked them not to enter the building and also barred them from breaking the windows when trapped people were seeking help by using their mobile torches.

The drivers had no mask or another safety gear while only two entrances were opened at the time of incident, he added.

Another driver Daniyal testified that he had reached the spot at around 10:40pm when a vehicle of the fire brigade was trying to douse the fire and with the help of Danish Ali, a volunteer fireman, who had voluntarily participated in the rescue operation, he had recused many people without any mask and other safety equipment while the fire brigade crew had no safety gear as well.

Thereafter, he also stated that he took his ambulance to the rooftop through the ramp and there was no watchman as he along with others broke an iron grill gate of the ramp to access upper floors and roof of the building.

Mohammad Shahid deposed that the iron grill gate of the ramp was also locked and they broke the same and the members of Rescue 1122 had arrived around 2am and they had safety mask and other safety gears.

The drivers, who had performed their duties on the second day of deadly inferno, deposed that they had removed the grill of the windows to retrieve the bodies.

Meanwhile, the registrar of the commission Iqbal Hasan Khatti issued notice to the fire station officer of Ranchorline Mohammad Taufeeq to appear on March 10 to record his statement and technical instructor Mirza Mursaleen Baig was also put on notice to appear on March 12 for cross-examination.

Published in Dawn, March 6th, 2026