City at risk: Karachi mall fire exposes dangers of unchecked urban growth

By Aamir Latif

KARACHI, Pakistan (AA) - Located in the heart of Pakistan's commercial capital Karachi, Gul Plaza, a three-story shopping mall where generations found everything from imported crockery to the perfect pair of sandals, made headlines last month for all the wrong reasons.

A massive fire ripped through the mall on the night of Jan. 17, reducing the structure, which once housed 1,200 small and big shops, to ashes and piles of smoke-blackened rubble, besides killing 80 people with many still missing.

While the fire is said to have started by minors at a shop selling artificial flowers, findings also suggested that a lack of working fire exits and the density of shoppers and stalls crammed into the building worsened the situation.

Rescue workers took at least 10 days to comb the remains of the 6,500 square meter (70,000 sq-foot) complex built in the 1980s, raising questions about urban governance, fire safety and rescue capacity.

Dubbing the blaze -- deadliest in over a decade -- as just the tip of the iceberg, urban planners fear that the megapolis might see another such accident if immediate preemptive measures, particularly strict implementation of fire safety regulations and rescue capacity are not taken.

The country's most populous city -- home to over 20 million people -- comprises hundreds of shopping centers like Gul Plaza, as well as both residential and commercial high-rises with only a few with proper fire safety mechanism, leaving them prone to similar disasters.

A 2023 fire safety audit conducted by the government in the southern Sindh province, of which Karachi is the capital, showed that only 6% buildings in the city's three major commercial centers were found having a proper fire safety mechanism.

The report recommended that urgent measures be taken to ensure fire safety regulations in the remaining buildings, but to no avail.

"Karachi is vulnerable to such incidents simply because of a string of issues related to unplanned urbanization, densification, overpopulation, and a lack of handling and rescue capacity," said Amber Alibhai, secretary general of Shehri-Citizens for a Better Environment, a non-governmental organization.

- Transparency, no regularization of illegal constructions

Speaking to Anadolu, Alibhai observed that an increasing demand for housing, and non-implementation of building and fire safety regulations have made buyers vulnerable to illegal constructions, where "fire safety is not a priority."

Lax building laws, she added, later allow these constructions to be regularized. She called for transparency in all commercial and residential construction approvals, and no approval of illegal constructions.

Arif Hasan, a veteran architect, listed a lack of planning, maintenance and monitoring, in addition to non-implementation of fire regulations as key factors behind massive losses in fire incidents in Karachi and other big cities.

"Fires do and can occur anywhere in the world. The issues are their frequency, government's rescue capacity and the extent of human losses," Hasan told Anadolu.

He said a holistic approach, which comprises planning, regular maintenance and monitoring, and implementation of fire safety standards, including a modern firefighting mechanism, can help to a great extent mitigate the impacts of such disasters.

"No new building should be handed over to the developer unless it meets all the fire safety regulations, whereas the government must ensure that the standing structure, particularly high-rises, follow the safety regulations," he added.

- Fire and politics

The latest incident, worst since the 2012 Baldia factory fire that killed 289 people, has also highlighted governance gaps, pushing the Pakistan People's Party (PPP), which has ruled the province since 2008, on the back foot.

Opposition parties in Karachi, including Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf and the Muttahida Quami Movement, as well as some shopkeepers accused the authorities of not launching a timely rescue and firefighting operation, which could have saved several lives and contained the blaze.

The provincial government and Karachi's mayor Murtaza Wahab denied the charge, but acknowledged the lack of safety standards in the metropolis.

Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah has now given an ultimatum to the government and private offices and high-rise buildings to implement fire safety standards.

Footage circulating on social media show government officials visiting the city's congested markets and buildings, and persuading the owners to clear illegally occupied pathways and adopt fire safety mechanism.

- 'Demoralized' fire brigade

Last year, some 1,700 fire incidents, mostly at a small scale, were recorded across Karachi, according to official statistics.

The megacity currently has just nearly 1,000 trained firefighters, compared to the required number of 15,000 to 20,000 in line with international standards.

The Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) has just 30 fire stations, 57 fire trucks and six ladder trucks to serve the sprawling metropolis, far fewer than global safety standards, which require one fire station for 100,000 people.

To make matters worse, several fire engines have been lying out of order for several years.

According to Ishtiaq Ahmed Khan, a former chief fire officer, there is not even a single water hydrant in the city dedicated for fire brigade.

The KMC does have underground water tanks in several areas, but they have also been rendered dry for years due to water shortages, Khan told Anadolu.

"A fire engine has to travel an average 6-8 miles to fetch water while maneuvering through jam-packed roads before reaching the fire sight," he said. "It gets even worse during peak hours."

According to Khan, who retired in December 2024, the city hardly has 700 plus firefighters, many of them without proper protective gear such as helmets.

So much so, he added, fire service personnel have not been paid their risk allowances for several years. "They feel demoralized because of the current state of affairs."

"I can tell you that fire brigade has never been a priority for KMC officials. They do not even bother to look at the files concerned," he said.

Endorsing the view, Alibhai also blamed the people's attitudes towards safety. "Authorities and the people in general do not take fire safety seriously," she said. "It’s a mindset."