KARACHI, Dec 9: Following the fire at the railway sheds near the city railway station, the DCO Karachi, Shafiqur Rahman Paracha, summoned on Monday a meeting of the departments and organizations concerned of the city and Sindh governments and decided to have a review of the existing safety standards in all the important and highrise buildings in the city.

It will be inspected whether such buildings have fire control system as per safety rules or what further steps are needed in this respect.

The meeting decided to take steps for making the efforts of the departments concerned more coordinated and effective.

It was decided that before issuing permission for storage of chemicals, the authorities concerned would ensure that the applicants had the necessary arrangements for their safe storage.

These organizations were told to ensure frequent inspection of the safety arrangements by their personnel so that chances of mishap could be averted.

The chief fire officer of the city government’s fire department told the meeting that this department had no authority in connection with the issuance of permission for storage of chemicals.

The representative of Civil Defence informed the meeting that the railways had its own safety arrangements against fire, and the system did not come under the purview of Civil Defence.

The meeting constituted a review committee headed by the EDO Investment, Shah Mahmood Husain Syed, and tasked it to collect details of the scope of services and the level of working of all the departments concerned.

It will also review the safety arrangements for fire control in the city and their availability in buildings.

Taking notice of the fire in the railway sheds, the meeting decided that the Electrical Inspector of the Sindh government would be extended all cooperation with regard to the implementation of fire-fighting and safety measures in buildings in the city.

The committee will also inspect petrol pumps and CNG stations to review safety arrangements and also ensure the implementation of regulations.

The departments concerned were told to make the needed steps more effective in the light of the instructions of the Sindh chief secretary to bring fire-fighting arrangements on a par with modern regulations.

It was decided that the DCO would soon hold a meeting with the associations concerned of the city’s important buildings and commercial centres also to seek their suggestions.—APP