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| The incident is a clear case of negligence on the part of the Punjab government in monitoring and implementing building bylaws. |
The factory roof collapse in the Sundar Industrial Estate (SIE), which resulted in over a hundred casualties, has left many a question in its wake.
Lahore saw a dreadful incident Wednesday last, as a four-storey polythene bag factory came crashing down in the Sundar Industrial Estate (SIE), raising many a question in its wake.
As the death toll at the Rajput Polyester Industries roof collapse rises — it’s well over two dozen — the incident is a clear case of negligence on the part of the Punjab government in monitoring and implementing building bylaws and regulations.
The incident occurred at dusk when the factory workers were winding up their morning shift. Rescue teams have recovered more than two dozen bodies and evacuated over a 100 casualties from the wreckage in the first three days since the disaster. The owner of the factory, the officials say, also died in the accident.
“We were working on stitching machines on the ground floor when suddenly the building caved in,” said Muhammad Arshad, an injured laborer who was rescued hours later, before being shifted to the Sharif Medical Complex. “There was darkness all around.
“The [factory] building had visibly developed cracks in its pillars, after the recent earthquake,” Arshad continued. “Many workers were concerned but they could do nothing about it. The factory owner wouldn’t pay heed [to them]; he kept on with the construction work, moving the machinery to the third floor despite the fact that the building was damaged.”
Massive operation work, involving rescue units of Punjab’s official Rescue 1122, the Pakistan Army and a troop of Capital Development Authority (CDA), is still under way. Trapped workers are being evacuated, and dead bodies recovered from the debris. An army surgeon, along with his team, made a tunnel in the rubble and crawled up to 60 yards to save the life of a worker. The latter’s legs were entangled in heavy machinery and had to be surgically removed.
Violation of rules and regulations in building constructions, getting cheap (often child) labour, and ignoring health and safety occupational tools is all in a day’s work in large industries and factories.
“We wanted to save lives. That’s why, we had to dig tunnels and holes in the collapsed structure,” said Arshad Zia, Director General Rescue 1122.
The factory, built on a large piece of land specified for industries, was constructed in 2012. According to its old workers, two new floors were added a year ago.
The SIE area comprises 1,750 acres of land that was inaugurated in February 2007. As per the official figures, more than 400 factories are operational here.
TNS spoke to some of the survivors — the laborers — who had horrible tales to tell of official and administrative negligence. The factory building was of poor standard, they said, but the owner was not heedful and he continued to add floors to it.
“We often tried to identify the damaged parts of the building to the managers but nobody seemed to care,” 18-year-old Abdul Salam said.
Salam revealed that the building’s pillars had developed cracks after the recent earthquake and many workers were reluctant to install new machinery on the third floor. Most of the labourers were from far-flung districts and had families to tend. The factory also had shelter rooms for them.
Another injured Muhammad Imran said a majority of the labourers were aged 15-20. The total number of labour and staff was 300 to 400.
Punjab’s Chief Minister Mian Shahbaz Sharif has set up a high level committee to look into the disaster. Violation of rules and regulations in building constructions, getting cheap (often child) labour, and ignoring health and safety occupational tools is all in a day’s work in large industries and factories. But action is seldom taken by the government, often not until such a disaster happens.
“We only help in acquiring land for industries and factories, and after that the owner is supposed to obtain the certificate of obeying the rules and regulations from the concerned departments and submit its copy to us,” said Chief Executive Officer, Punjab Industrial Estate Development and Management Company (PIEDMC).
The CEO said that after the incident, the PIEDMC was writing to all factory owners, exhorting them to ensure the certification and inspection of their buildings.
He also said that a former manager of the collapsed factory had resigned from his job a month ago because of differences with the owner on certain issues, apparently regarding the wages and the poorly constructed building extension.
Pakistan Institute of Labour Education and Research (PILER), an organisation working on labour rights, puts it down to a lack of essential health and safety facilities at the factory premises. “Improper labour inspection by concerned provincial departments often results in such disasters,” said PILER Executive Director Karamat Ali. “The provincial governments have never taken it seriously, thereby giving the factory owners a free hand to violate any relevant laws. The greed and callousness of the owners makes the lives of the workers miserable.”
Sadly, the provincial capital has a huge track record of incidents where a building collapsed or caught fire that resulted in several deaths. In September 2012, at least 25 workers lost their lives when fire erupted inside a shoe factory in a congested residential area. Last year, a three-storey small commercial building caught fire that took 13 lives.
“Such incidents continue to happen but the authorities are least bothered,” said labour rights activist Khalid Mahmood. “We can avoid these only if we are sincere towards the cause!”
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