The fears of the Supreme Court regarding the safety mechanisms in the high-rise buildings in the city came to a realisation when the fire at the Lahore Development Authority (LDA) plaza left no way out for the plaza occupants who had to resort to jumping off the plaza in the arms of ill-equipped rescuers.
While the City District Government Lahore (CDGL) and its rescue agencies were not equipped with necessary apparatus to extinguish a blaze on the seventh floor, the LDA plaza was missing a mechanism which could ensure safe emergency exit of the entrapped.
The LDA plaza fire has only raised the questions which were asked by the Supreme Court when it ordered demolition of the upper floors of high-rises in the city a few years ago. The high-rises do not have safety mechanisms and the rescue teams are not well equipped was the plea taken by the court to order the demolition of such skyscrapers in the city. The court had clearly observed that the rescue authorities did not have the necessary apparatus to respond in case some untoward incident happens.
The LDA plaza is not the tallest of the city’s buildings and hence others are equally vulnerable. The incident also highlights the defenselessness of residents and visitors to all other high-rises which have grown wide and deep during the last decade.
The unavailability of other rescue equipment to save the falling people was also missing. A senior official from the CDGL seeking anonymity said, “The government has been intimated several times but this is not any one’s priority because no one’s personal benefit is involved.”
Lahore DCO Rizwan Mehboob was not available for comments and was allegedly at the site. The Rescue PRO however admitted that they did not have the requisite equipment saying, “The building was 15 feet higher than the ladder.”