Fighting fire hazards in Karachi

According to a press report, Karachi is to have its first 104-meter tall snorkel truck to deal with emergency situations, though it is not a first for the country. Lahore acquired a similar machine two years ago for its emergency rescue service. It is a much welcome addition to the extremely under-resourced fire department of the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC), improving its capacity to respond to fires and other emergencies. Nonetheless, given the size and the sprawl of the megapolis, one 104-meter high snorkel is not good enough. No wonder the department cannot decide where to place it. The city's Chief Fire Officer is said to be scratching his head to choose from among four possible locations: Sohrab Goth Fire Station, open spaces on Tariq Road, Shahrah-e-Faisal and Clifton.
It is surprising and disturbing in equal measure that in a city that boasts the county's largest number of high-rises as well as its tallest buildings, the KMC so far had only three snorkels with heights ranging from 40 to 55 meters. Even they have not been fully functional. The Chief Fire Officer has been quoted as saying that "these machines are in dire need of repair." The report further points out that back in 2016, it was decided to import two snorkels, one for Karachi and another for Lahore. It does say what happened to the latter, but in the case of the former, the purchase order remained pending for two long years after the minister concerned cancelled the successful bidder's offer, issuing a fresh tender and short-listing a company that had previously failed to win the tender. Such behaviour is unacceptable in any event, and unforgivable in a matter that involved risks to public life and property. Those responsible need to be held to account.
Things in other parts of the country are not any better. More and more cities are going vertical, without a care for requisite safety measures. Construction rules are commonly violated with the connivance of officials concerned. Unsuspecting people pay the price for this criminal collusion. There have been instances in Lahore of people getting trapped, even dying, in burning buildings that had neither fire hydrants nor fire escape stairs. In another case, fire fighters struggled for a long time to reach the trouble spot because of encroachments in an already congested inner city area. With urbanization growing at a rapid pace, these problems are only going to aggravate further. It is about time the issue received the attention it deserves. There is no use expressing shock and horror after a tragedy occurs. The provincial governments must get their act together and take two obvious steps: one, ensure that no one is allowed to defy safety rules; and second, fire tenders must be provided with necessary equipment to do their duty.