Leader of the Opposition in Sindh Assembly, Haleem Adil Sheikh, asked Chief Secretary Sindh to initiate an impartial inquiry into the Mehran Town Factory fire incident in which 17 workers lost their lives.
The Leader of the Opposition, through a letter to CS Sindh on Tuesday, pointed out different issues requiring impartial investigation so that responsibility of the incident could be fixed and the officials involved could be brought to justice.
In his letter Haleem Adil Sheikh while raising question on construction of an industrial entity in a residential area said that it needed to be probed that which provincial department or authority issued approval for building a factory in a residential area and if it was built illegally why concerned departments did not take any action in the regard?
The factory was operational without any arrangements for dealing with any emergency situation like fire extinguishers or emergency exits, he noted adding that it was responsibility of the provincial Labour department to ensure enforcement of safety rules for workers which they failed. He also pointed out that NOC by the Environment department was mandatory for construction of a factory or building. It should be investigated that either environment department issued NOC or the factory was operating without fulfilling the legal requirement, he said.
Haleem Adil Sheikh while indicating criminal negligence of Karachi Metropolitan Corporation stated that though federal government had recently handed over 54 fully equipped fire brigade vehicles to KMC and its fire station was situated near the site of the incident, fire brigade arrived at the scene after three hours. The inordinate delay resulted into lose of precious lives and need to be investigated, he added. The PTI lawmaker also sought information about performance of Sindh Disaster Management Authority and its role in the incident.
Haleem Adil Sheikh raised question over implementation on court orders issued after Baldia Town Factory case- a horrific incident in which over 200 workers burnt to death. The leader of the opposition asked the Chief Secretary Sindh to initiate an impartial inquiry in the matter and take legal action against the persons found involved. “Involved characters may not be left unpunished and free from the iron grip of law before they had continued causing serious damages to public, the letter concluded.
