RAWALPINDI: Rawalpindi Deputy Commissioner (DC) Talat Mahmood Gondal has strictly directed the owners of private buildings and commercial setups, located in the district, to install fire extinguishers for safety purposes.
These buildings include factories, hotels, educational institutions, petrol pumps, CNG stations, marriage halls, car and motorcycle showrooms, multi-storey commercial buildings and plazas.
The owners of the buildings have been given the deadline of one month for the aforementioned purpose, and to make better arrangements in this regard.
The DC has also empowered the Civil Defence officer and chief instructor grade-2, through an office order, to monitor and check the fire arrangements of the buildings. In case of violations, the owners of the buildings would face up to six-month imprisonment or fine or both.
In Schedule-I of the order, the buildings include textiles, garments, tobacco, plywood, poultry feed, cement, chemical, juice and beverages, fertilizers, food, soaps, rubber, tyre, paint and sanitary fittings.
The said office order was also sent to the administrations of petrol pumps and CNG stations. Besides these, it was also sent to multi-storey commercial buildings and plazas, hotels, universities, colleges, schools, printing presses, stadiums and marriage and community halls.
Workshops of vehicles, motels, restaurants, furniture shops, foam selling points, electronic shops, show rooms, computer centres and laboratories were also given the same orders.
After the fire incident of a prominent commercial hub “Ghakar Plaza” in 2008, which claimed the lives of 13 rescuers and a loss of billions of rupees, the district administration had constituted a high-level committee comprising the officials of Civil Defence, Rescue 1122 and all the concerned departments to counter such incidents and to adopt precautionary measures.
Sources said that it was made obligatory to seek a No Objection Certificate (NOC) from Rescue 1122 for the approval of the layout plan of new and proposed buildings. But in the nexus of district administration, and Municipal Corporation, no layout plan of any building was sent to Rescue 1122.
According to sources, there are approximately one thousand triple-storey buildings and other buildings located in the city and cantonment in which there are no emergency exits or fire extinguishers installed.
“The district administration has already issued warning notices to the owners and management of these plazas and buildings,” said the sources.
