KARACHI, Jan 16: An inquiry committee, set up by the Sindh governor to ascertain the causes of rising fire incidents in the city, has suspected arson to be behind the blazes in a few major industrial units and offices of the Board of Revenue (BoR), and has recommended forensic investigations into the mysterious episodes. However, it seems to have failed to inspire the authorities to act even after almost a year of the incidents.

A detailed report compiled by the committee, comprising experts from the NED University of Engineering and Technology and representatives from the business community, through the examination of 16 affected sites mainly in the industrial area which caught fire in 2008, suggests that two production facilities – in the Landhi industrial area and Karachi Export Processing Zone – along with the BoR offices in the old Sindh Secretariat near Saddar, are suspected cases of arson.

“In this short time and (through an) inevitably cursory mode of investigation (into) dozens of fires without forensic investigations for ascertaining cases of arson and deliberate acts to cause devastation through fires was extremely difficult,” says the 100-page report submitted to the Sindh governor.

The report, however, mentions fires in a refrigerator manufacturing facility, a textile export production company, Qazzafi timber market in Korangi and the BoR offices in a short span of two months as results of some “suspicious activity”.

“In those cases where arson seems to be (the) probable cause, forensic enquiries (should) be conducted by the appropriate competent authorities,” recommends the report.

A recent upsurge in fire incidents brought the inquiry committee’s recommendations under the spotlight. The recommendations have not been addressed yet. Among others, the government appeared unmoved about a mysterious fire in the Sindh Secretariat, which wrecked the offices of the province’s Board of Revenue in March 2008 and destroyed records of land worth billions of rupees.

The terms of reference as notified by the chief secretary while setting up the fact-finding committee on the orders of the Sindh governor, made it clear to the committee members that they would propose recommendations to the government, which could help “pre-empt such cases in future.”

Though the Pakistan People’s Party-led provincial government has announced time and again that it will initiate an independent inquiry into the incident, the words have not matched actions so far. Similarly, with no forensic investigations into last year’s fire incidents in the industrial areas despite recommendations by the Sindh governor’s fact-finding committee, recent blazes in the same localities may lead to further suspicions.

The committee, which found negligence, poor infrastructure and lack of awareness as causes in most of the fire incidents, also analysed the facts and figures of the last four years, which led to the finding that until December 2007, incidents of fire followed the usual pattern and trend.

“The only deviations lie in two facts: a) During the last few months serious fires erupted in some high profile buildings/factories and b) The months of January and February had unusually high number of fires.”

The report says it could be fortuitous and may have something to do with the extremely dry season over a prolonged period, as these conditions resulted in only small amounts of energy ignition.

“It is logical to relate lack of awareness – negligence – as this causes individuals to act without any appreciation of consequences of their actions, i.e. they compromise on safety in the short-term and are unable to plan in advance to carry out maintenance on long-term basis as required,” says the report.

“To summarise, extreme lack of awareness has led to gross negligence on the part of individuals in all areas i.e. industry, commercial, wholesale and retail centres and buildings in the public sector etc.”