Fire, fire, fire which did fire

Fire in Karachi garments factory and in Lahore in shoes factory has shaken not only those whose near and dear are lost or even the two cities’ dwellers but total Pakistanis whether living within the country or overseas and to be honest it is too shocking even to describe. Hundreds of innocent lives have been lost and scores are injured as well leaving part materialistic damage. Done is done and cannot be undone whatsoever but nevertheless the two said incidents have given us enough food to investigate from variety of diversified angles and adopt respective preventive measure so that we are not caught alike next time.

It is most lamentable to read in one of the newspapers that in Lahore factory those who died were aged between 14 and 40 which proves that some of our employers are still engaged in child labor otherwise how 14 years old could be found dead in the shoes factory. Who does not know that internationally speaking 18 years age is considered to be the age of an adult which entitles him to be employed but there is no provision that someone aged 14 be also employed? Labor department must take note of it so that the children are not exploited and engaged as a factory worker which I believe is very common in the country and though there had been some hue and cry on the subject but the problem is never ever over. Newspapers also mentioned that both the places lacked in exit facilities whereby it was next to impossible for all those who were inside to run away when the smoke filled in the places. Some lucky ones could break glass windows etc to jump out though they escaped from sudden death but nevertheless yet they were injured, some seriously, in the process. As a matter of fact when such a big force like what worked in Karachi itself necessitates that there must be sufficient and efficient points of exit so that in such like eventualities people could escape. No denying the hard fact that most of our work places particularly factories and workshops terribly lack in safety and preventive measures. Highly combustive material is not properly covered and therefore with slightest carelessness it causes havoc. The owners also do not keep any open are for safe exit nor will they have emergency adequate emergency exits and the result is that as and when something happens like this then there is nothing but great stampede which itself causes death. In case of Karachi garment factory it is said that quite a big number of people were at work when the fire started but ever since the building had no proper safety arrangements so the fire kept on spreading from one place to another which as such engulfed almost all those who were in the factory. I very seriously doubt if both the factories were equipped with smoke detectors which is a bit costly but nothing against a human life provided the owners think of then. Regretfully it is reported that in the garment factory neither there was any equipment to fight out a fire nor there were trained staff to handle fire which is criminal to be honest when the factory employs not just 100 or even 300 persons but somewhat 1000+ so it was obligatory for the factory to be suitably equipped backed back trained teams. Who will conduct the inquiry and haul up those who defaulted on this account?

Some of the ill fated bodies which have been found and brought out are so much burnt and churned that it is absolutely difficult to identify them which is very much gruesome for their concerned relatives for that matter. Relatives and friends are running from pillar to post to find their dear ones but it was not so easy so far as Karachi is concerned. Fire was so huge and the temperature was so high that no human body could remain intact and therefore some bodies were disintegrated. The worst part is that in Karachi hospitals’ mortuaries can only house 100 bodies whereas till this point of time 289 bodies have been brought out from the garments factory hence it is next to impossible to keep all the dead bodies in the mortuaries and therefore some of the ambulances which brought the dead bodies were converted into temporary mortuaries.

What about monetary compensation for all those who are killed and or injured and what would be the scale if compensation particularly if the workers were not insured? Who is responsible for such worst tragedy? Honestly speaking the owners cannot be excused whatsoever but then they are not the only one to be taken into custody but there are some government officials also who equally share the responsibility. Labor department should have checked as to what are safety and security arrangements for the workers whereas civil defense and fire department too should have been quite diligent in their duties and warned the owners to face the wrath of the government if their instructions are not followed in the strictest sense but?

Will you believe and approve as to what I noticed? At 3 pm my time and 5 pm PST, a lady announcer at GEO tv who came with an overall commentary on fire was clad in black dress but with red flowers which was conspicuously odd to the atmosphere simply because one must be very soberly dressed up as and when such like tragic news is to be flashed. The fire has put us on fire and we must not just limit ourselves to condolences, compensation but must be on fire to devise the strategy what to do next and how we can prevent that first of all such like incident does not happen and if at all it happens then what measures should be taken to tackle it accordingly. If we realize that fire is still on then only we can face fire if it occurs again but if we are not fire then I doubt we are free from any future fire hazards.