PESHAWAR: The provincial government has failed to establish a burns prevention authority despite preparing a plan for the purpose two years ago.

“Had we a burns prevention authority, the fire at the tissue factory erupted last month could have been avoided. There were no arrangements to put out the fire at the industrial estate despite days of efforts,” said experts, who were part of the government’s plan to establish burns prevention authority.

They told this scribe that factories, government and private buildings in Peshawar and elsewhere in the province did not have any arrangements to cope with fire incidents.

In August 2022, the government had planned legislation to make it obligatory for all buildings and factories to install fire extinguishers and make arrangements for safe exit of people in case of fire but there was no progress on the plan, they said.

A plan was devised two years ago for the purpose

Experts said that a process had been initiated with members of the provincial assembly for passing laws to ensure setting up an authority that would make it mandatory for shopping malls, industries and government and privately-owned buildings to install proper mechanism for putting out fire in a timely manner and ensuring protection of people.

“In this connection, several meetings have also been held that have been attended by representatives of health department and lawmakers to ensure safety measures,” they said. They added that it was the basic responsibility of the owners of buildings and industries to have maximum protection in case of fire and the same was discussed but no progress was made on legislating for the purpose.

They said that the present provincial government had no problem in passage of law due to its majority in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly but the plan had been put on backburner and people had to suffer.

“Local plastic surgeons have volunteered their services to help in drafting the law as they know that those suffering from burn injuries never come to normal lives despite timely treatment while those with major burns stand nearly no chances of survival. Those with minor burns even if survive have to face complications and disabilities,” said experts.

They said that an authority on modern lines had been suggested to cover all aspects including mandatory installation of smoke detectors and mechanism for exist of people in case of fire. “Currently, factories and buildings don’t have arrangements to cope with fire incidents and as result people are exposed to burn injuries,” they said.

Plastic surgeons in Peshawar told Dawn that the estimated number of annual burn incidence in Pakistan was approximately 1.3 million to 1.5 million that could be brought down through legislation and public awareness. They added that 10 per cent of those incidents were life threatening and required hospitalisation.

They said that nearly 15 to 20 per cent victims of the incidents got crippled and require multiple surgeries and prolonged rehabilitation. “The lamentable part is that 70 per cent of the burn victims are in the most productive age group of 15 to 40 years and 80 per cent of them belong to poor families,” they said.

The situation has further been deteriorated due to absence of specialised burns care at primary and secondary level hospitals. “The silver lining is that 90 per cent of burn injuries are totally preventable provided the government takes steps for prevention of fire incidents,” they said.

Plastic surgeons said that burns were the most grievous injuries one could imagine. “Besides legislation, the government is strongly advised to integrate burns prevention education into the school curriculum from primary to secondary levels and encourage schools to organise awareness events and competitions on burns prevention,” they said.

Published in Dawn, November 14th, 2024