The horrendous fire at the Gul Plaza market in Karachi was not just devastating, but also horrifying, because of the lack of finality. While 26 people were confirmed dead, which meant that heirs and other loved ones could begin performing the mourning rituals and customs, another 69 were merely reported as ‘missing’, which dozens of families were stuck in limbo, not knowing whether to mourn or not, left to hope against hope, not knowing what fate the ‘missing’ had suffered. The Sindh Chief Minister has announced Rs 10 million for each victim. Though the money may eae immediate pain, it does not serve as an adequate substitute for the person lost, nor does it compensate for the various sins of omission and commission which various governments have been guilty of. The economic loss has been tremendous, with about 8000 people rendered jobless after 120 shops were destroyed. The effect on the entire area are not easily quantifiable, for the plaza was the focus of shopping for the entire neighbourhood.
It is still to be established that the fire was caused by a short circuit, though the jerrybuilt wiring of the plaza, more often than not visible to the naked eye, made that hypothesis entirely tenable, even likely. There is the possibility of arson, as the reconstructed plaza will probably be worth much more than the previous building was worth. However, even if there was a short circuit, matters were not helped by the fact that 179 extra shops had been built, ensuring that any fire that broke out would meet no breaks to its spread. Both firefighting and escape efforts were hampered by the fact that only three of 16 gates were open when the fire broke. It was no help that, in an effort to use every last inch of space possible, some bright spark had set up stalls on emergency corridors and exit routes.
The blithe ignoring of all safety measures appears problematic from the building permission stage. It should have been obvious that the plaza’s plans did not allow for proper exits and approaches. It is not as if this disaster was the first. It is almost as if the authorities are waiting for the disasters to strike. However,the nightmare scenario presents itself of more than one disaster at the same time. The permissions and pre cautions of the rebuilt Gul Plaza will show if there have been any lessons learnt.
