WE are a group of students of a university, who recently conducted a fire safety survey in Karachi. The survey was relevant in the wake of the Gul Plaza tragedy. We visited markets, university departments, a shopping mall, and a factory. We spoke to shop-owners, security guards, university staff, workers and students.

We checked fire extinguishers for expiry dates, asked people whether they had been trained to use them, and listened to what they told us. What we found deserves to be said out loud.

In the commercial area around Gul Plaza, a shop-owner said he had recently installed fire extinguishers after being instructed by the authorities. The team had promised him that it would return to teach him how to use them, but never did.

At the University of Karachi, funded by the state, we found laboratories full of chemicals without a single fire extinguisher. Students had no awareness of any fire safety protocol, and no drill had ever been held. At the only building with fire extinguishers, all had expired long ago, and nobody knew how to use them. Not much different was the story at the factory we visited.

During the survey, it was pointed out that the government charges 18 per cent general sales tax (GST) on fire extinguishers. Essential medicines in Pakistan are zero-rated because the government recognises that life-protecting goods should not be a financial burden.

Fire extinguishers protect human life in exactly the same manner. And, yet, they are taxed as if they are luxury items.

Alishah, Zain and Huzaifa
Karachi

Published in Dawn, June 11th, 2026