ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) building is devoid of life-saving equipment in the case of an emergency or natural disaster, according to a fire-safety audit report issued by Emergency and Disaster Management (EDM), Metropolitan Corporation Islamabad (MCI).
The audit report also claims that the IHC’s building staff is ill-prepared to counter emergency situations. The staff has no training pertaining to an emergency and have no clue about fire drills.
The IHC building has been classified as ‘E’ class, which means a public place where people congregate regularly. During a recent inspection of the court premises, EDM’s audit team concluded that the building scored “unsatisfactory” under 19 heads.
Rescue vehicles are required outside the main entrance, in addition to fire extinguishers in case of an emergency, according to documents available with Pakistan Today. EDM’s safety report also points out an insufficient number of fire extinguishers, an absence of hose reels, yard hydrants and a sprinkler system, which is specifically required in the basement, record room and server room.
The electrical fire alarm system and the automatic detection system do not cover the entire building and are not operational. Additionally, a 15,000 litres overhead water-tank and a fire control room have not been built in the IHC building.
Furthermore, IHC’s building also lacks illuminated emergency exit signs and battery-operated emergency lights, according to the report.
The report also mentioned that although emergency doors were present, contrary to established practices they open inside and furniture had been dumped outside the emergency exits.
It is pertinent to mention that several private schools are situated in sectors F-6, F-7, F-8, G-6 and I-8 but these schools lack emergency exits and various security features.
Furthermore, EDM has already marked 257 commercial and 148 industrial buildings as “dangerous” and ill-prepared to deal with crisis situations since November 2016.
Although Capital Development Authority (CDA) reserves the right to penalise, levy fines and sealing the premises of buildings that do not cater to crisis management protocols, no action has been taken so far.