Government To Conduct Fire Safety Audit Of All High Rise Buildings In Karachi

Following the directives of caretaker Chief Minister Sindh, the Karachi administration has decided to carry out a fire safety audit of high-rise commercial, residential and government buildings in the metropolis

KARACHI, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 28th Nov, 2023) Following the directives of caretaker Chief Minister Sindh, the Karachi administration has decided to carry out a fire safety audit of high-rise commercial, residential and government buildings in the metropolis.

A Fire Safety Audit Committee, headed by Commissioner Karachi, has also been constituted to review the ground situation and recommend and take effective measures to prevent fire incidents in high-rise buildings in future, said a statement issued here on Tuesday.

Besides all deputy commissioners and Town Municipal Commissioners, officers of Buildings Control Authority, Cantonment Boards, Civil Defense, Pakistan Rangers, Police, Provincial Disaster Management Authority, KMC, KDA, MDA, Rescue 1122, K Electric and representatives of SITE and ABAD were appointed as committee members.

Commissioner Karachi Muhammad Salim Rajput while presiding over a meeting in this regard directed all deputy commissioners and related departments and institutions to conduct fire safety audits of all high-rise buildings situated in their corresponding areas.

It was decided in the meeting that the officers of all relevant departments along with their technical staff and experts will review the fire safety requirements and submit their report to the Commissioner Karachi in 25 days.

According to the terms of reference, the committee will inspect all shopping malls, shopping centers, and commercial as well as residential and government high-rise buildings to review if required automatic fire extinguishers, fire safety mechanisms and emergency fire exit were in place or not.

The committee will also examine if the quality of electrical wiring was ensured as per approved safety standards or not. The committee has also been directed to check the building plans approved by the Sindh Buildings Control Authority and review its compliance status.

The commissioner said that the fire safety audit reports of all institutions will be reviewed and a consolidated report along with recommendations for fire safety prevention will be submitted to the CM Sindh in the next 30 days.

It was decided in the meeting that all the Deputy Commissioners will immediately convene a meeting of the relevant institutions and departments in connection with the fire safety audit in their respective districts and will review the preventive measures.

The deputy commissioners will also constitute district and sub-divisional survey teams under the supervision of Assistant Commissioners. The survey teams will conduct surveys by visiting all high-rise buildings, shopping malls and shopping centres in their respective areas as per the ToRs of the committee.

The Commissioner directed all the deputy commissioners to present their detailed reports in the next meeting.