Karachi: FACTORIES OR DEATH TRAPS?

There were two fires reported in two factories—one in Karachi and another in Lahore, the two mega cities of Pakistan. More than 314 people lost their lives in Karachi garment factory fire while 25 persons killed in Lahore shoe factory. The large number of deaths indicated negligence, corruption, ignorance on the part of the Government or the State machinery. It is the State machinery that had ignored or condoned the sub-human conditions at working places in most parts of Pakistan, mainly in the two mega cities of Lahore and Karachi. Hundreds of people were working in a factory during the peak hours and there was a single exit that too was closed for unknown reasons causing 314 deaths in Karachi. It is a fact that the rules of the Building Control Authority had been violated and no one had taken notice to it. The State machinery is least interested to check the violation of building rules. Similarly, the KCCI, the SITE Association and Labour Department did not perform their duties ensuring safety and security of workers in hundred under one roof. On technical grounds, no one is responsible thus no one should be punished because all the relevant agencies and organizations are shifting the responsibilities on others. It is a sign of complete collapse of the State authority and the Government is unable to impose and implement its own rules and laws governing the factories and work places. It is believed that hundreds of factories are operating without fire fighting facilities. There were no multiple exit doors to provide escape route to the workers in case of emergency or fire erupting in the factories. According to building rules, there should be at least four exit routes for the workers to escape in case of any disaster. This is unfortunate that the rulers had merely condoled the death of hundreds of workers and announced compensation with no commitment to prevent recurrence of such deadly incidents in future. It is an indication that that the State machinery had virtually collapsed and there is a complete anarchy in every field and no one cares about the loss of life in factory fires. We have to arrest the drifting disasters in our society by imposing rule of law so that life and property of the innocent people, mainly the work force, is secured.