KARACHI: Exposing severe emergency management flaws in the metropolis, an audit survey reveals that some 260 out of 266 commercial buildings having offices and workplaces on three main thoroughfares Sharea Faisal, I.I. Chundrigar Road and Shahrah-i-Quaideen do not have any fire safety system and 60 per cent of these multi-storeystructures don`t even have an emergency exit for quick evacuation.

The initial report of fire security audit of buildings along three major roads, prepared by the fire department, came to surface on Tuesday when city mayor Barrister Murtaza Wahab Siddiqi shared its key findings, calling the situation `very critical`.

The mayor asked the authorities concerned, including Sindh Building Control Authority (SBCA) and respective district administrations, to take immediate steps to address the challenge and avoid any major incident.

`We had decided to carry out fire security audits in multi-storeybuildings of Karachi,` he said in a statement.

`The fire department has completed the audit survey of 266 buildings situated along the key roads, Sharea Faisal, I.I. Chundrigar Road and Shahrah-i-Quaideen. We found that only six buildings have a fire safety system in place. The 60 per cent of these buildings don`t even have a fire exit.

In November last year, the Karachi mayor ordered a `fire security audit` of all high-rises located along three major arteries following a fire in a high-rise on Rashid Minhas Road which claimed 11 lives. All the victims were suffocated to death due to lack of ventilation and emergencyexit in the multi-storey building.

The terms of reference of the audit says: To assess fire safety measures including escape routes and emergency exits, basic fire safety equipment, including smoke detectors, fire watch guards, fire extinguishers, fire hose, etc, electric wiring and general condition of electrical equipment, electric meters, including switches, plugs, etc; and to make recommendations to the building managements.

Barrister Wahab had assigned Chief Fire Officer of the fire department Ishtiaq Ahmed to lead the safety audit.

The mayor said action would be taken against those buildings which were found without any fire exit.Sharing details of the audit report, he said the team of experts also found poor quality electrical wiring in 70 per cent of the 266 buildings, which is one of the major reasons for fires.

`Similarly, there were only 90 buildings which have smoke detectors and fire alarms,` said Mayor Wahab.

`The report also recommends the deputy commissioners to cooperate with the fire department and provide all required assistance in case of any fire incident in their areas.

We have also asked the SBCA and formally sent the recommendations.

The authority has been asked to do its job to ensure fire safety in these buildings.