KARACHI, July 26: An interim inquiry report commissioned by the provincial minister for industries was submitted to the office of the Sindh Industries and Labour Department on Thursday.

The final inquiry will be ready within a couple of days.

The minister, Adil Siddiqui, had ordered an inquiry into Tuesday morning’s boiler explosion at a towel dyeing factory in a North Karachi katchi abadi, which killed nine people and injured 25 others.

The police registered a case under Sections 322, 337-H-2 and 427 of the Pakistan Penal Code and arrested the factory owner, Akhtar Hussain Baloch. The two boiler operators named in the FIR, Ahsaan and Sohail, are absconding and raids are being conducted in an effort to arrest them.

The Sindh secretary for Industries, Rasool Bux Phulpoto, told Dawn that a physical inspection of the site had not been possible since rescue and debris-removal work had been underway. An interim report had been prepared, he said, and it would be finalised in a day or two after the inspection of the site.

“We have on record that a boiler clearance certificate was issued to the towel factory in question in September last year that is valid for one year,” said Mr Phulpoto, emphasising that the factory was visited once a year and surprise visits could not be made because of the “liberal policy.”

However, the factory owner had been unable to provide the police with a valid boiler clearance certificate.

‘Liberal policy’

On the condition of anonymity, a senior official of the provincial labour department said that factories in katchi abadis were often not registered with the Sindh Industries and Labour Department. He informed Dawn that a “liberal policy” was implemented after a cabinet meeting some years ago, as a result of which department officials could not conduct surprise raids on factories to monitor child labour or registration issues.

The policy demands that factory visits are formal and each factory may be visited only once a year.

The official added that the implementation of a liberal policy virtually paved the way for the mushrooming growth of such unregulated industries, and allowed irregularities and the violation of labour rights. He further complained that labour inspectors were provided no security or logistical support, and did not have transport to pay factory visits.

“Once permission was granted to set up industries outside the designated industrial zones, it has become too difficult to find factories in congested localities without transport and manpower,” he complained.