Without transparency and accountability, the next fire is already waiting.

By Mohammad Ehsan Leghari

The inferno that engulfed Gul Plaza on M.A. Jinnah Road in Karachi on January 18, 2026, killing at least six people and injuring many more, should not be remembered as just another urban tragedy. It must be understood as evidence which is graphic and lethal, of a systemic collapse in how Pakistan builds, regulates, and inhabits its cities. Fires of this magnitude do not emerge from chance. They are manufactured by neglect, normalized by weak governance, and sustained by a collective tolerance for risk.

What burned at Gul Plaza was not only a commercial complex but the credibility of Pakistan’s urban safety regime.

A Disaster Written Into the Building

The Gul Plaza fire began late at night, most likely due to an electrical short circuit; an almost ritual cause in Pakistan’s commercial fires. Within minutes, the blaze escalated into a third-degree fire, fed by highly combustible materials: garments, plastics, cosmetics, and chemicals stored across nearly 1,200 shops. The structure behaved exactly as fire engineers would predict: smoke and heat rose rapidly through stairwells and service shafts, creating a lethal chimney effect.

The most damning fact is this: most victims did not die from burns but from asphyxiation. Smoke had nowhere to escape. Only two of the building’s seven emergency exits were accessible; the rest were locked or blocked by merchandise, a widespread but illegal practice in urban markets. During firefighting operations, sections of the building began to weaken under thermal stress, forcing rescuers to operate from the outside and severely limiting rescue options (1–5).

One firefighter lost his life; an outcome that highlights chronic shortages of breathing apparatus and protective gear for first responders.

Karachi: The Epicenter of Predictable Tragedy

Karachi’s fire disasters follow a grim and repetitive script. The 2023 blaze at RJ Shopping Mall killed eleven people, again largely due to smoke inhalation. Investigations revealed a sealed, centrally air-conditioned building with no smoke extraction system and no valid completion certificate—yet fully operational (6, 7, 19).

Weeks later, the Arshi Shopping Mall fire exposed the lethal risks of mixed-use buildings. A foam and mattress shop on the ground floor ignited, sending flames rapidly upward into residential apartments. Five people died as fire raced through façades and internal ducts not designed to contain it (8, 9).

Earlier incidents, including the prolonged basement fire at the Chase Up Departmental Store, demonstrated how poor ventilation and inaccessible basements can render firefighting almost impossible, threatening entire residential towers above.

These are not anomalies. They are symptoms.

Lahore and Islamabad: Different Forms, Same Failure

Lahore’s vulnerability stems from congestion and electrical decay. The 2020 inferno at Hafeez Center wiped out billions of rupees in assets. The inquiry found that internal fire hydrants were dry and non-functional, and the fire originated from a short circuit in a building packed with electronics and lithium batteries (10).

Islamabad, often portrayed as a planned and safer city, offers only an illusion of security. The 2022 fire at Centaurus Mall revealed years of missed inspections due to confusion between civic authorities over jurisdiction. While evacuation succeeded, investigators found that enforcement gaps, not design excellence, defined the outcome (17, 18).

Regulators That Facilitate Risk

At the core of the crisis lies regulatory failure. In Karachi, the Sindh Building Control Authority has repeatedly been accused of enabling illegal construction and later “regularizing” violations for a fee. Investigations have documented thousands of illegal buildings facilitated over recent years (13). As of April 2025, hundreds of structures were officially declared “dangerous,” yet most remain occupied due to litigation, political pressure, or inertia (14–16).

In Islamabad, the Capital Development Authority and municipal bodies have struggled to act as the legally defined “authority having jurisdiction,” creating enforcement vacuums that allow safety systems to decay unchecked (17,18).

Utility companies further compound the danger by providing electricity to buildings without verifying completion or fire safety certification, effectively energizing hazards (6, 19).

Laws That Exist Only on Paper

Pakistan possesses a comprehensive Building Code of Pakistan (Fire Safety Provisions 2016), developed by the Pakistan Engineering Council and aligned with international standards. It mandates fire exits, sprinklers, smoke control, and material specifications. Yet implementation remains negligible. Existing buildings were given deadlines to comply—deadlines that expired years ago without consequence (20, 21).

Recent regulatory shifts, such as Punjab’s Unified Building Rules 2025 and Islamabad’s renewed crackdowns, signal reactive awareness rather than systemic reform. Enforcement remains sporadic and politically vulnerable.

Engineering the Disaster

The technical causes of urban fires are well known. Substandard electrical cabling floods the market, despite recent crackdowns by the Pakistan Standards and Quality Control Authority (23). Daily reliance on diesel generators accelerates wiring degradation. Flammable aluminum composite cladding allows fires to leap vertically. Sealed glass façades trap smoke, turning buildings into gas chambers.

None of this is accidental. It is the result of cost-cutting, weak oversight, and professional malpractice.

Health Systems and Firefighters at the Edge

The aftermath is equally alarming. Karachi’s main burn center has fewer than 70 beds, instantly overwhelmed in a mass-casualty event (24). Islamabad serves an entire region with limited surge capacity. Firefighters routinely operate without adequate breathing apparatus or protective gear—a failure that directly cost a life at Gul Plaza.

Culture, Economics, and the Illusion of Normalcy

A fatalistic culture treats safety as optional and inspections as negotiable. Insurance penetration for commercial property remains around one percent, leaving small traders economically annihilated after fires (25, 26). Traders’ associations often resist enforcement through political pressure, forcing authorities into compromise and delay.

In this environment, fires become extinction events for livelihoods, and recurring headlines for cities.

A Crisis of Choice, Not Fate

Gul Plaza was not destiny. It was design, policy, and governance failure converging at midnight.

Pakistan must depoliticize building enforcement, mandate insurance for high-risk structures, replace compromised inspections with independent third-party certification, modernize fire and medical response capacity, and make public the list of dangerous buildings. Without transparency and accountability, the next fire is already waiting.

Cities do not burn by chance. They burn when societies decide silently that they can afford to let them.

References

1. Massive fire kills 6 in Karachi and destroys shopping Centre, The Straits Times.
2. Massive fire in Pakistan’s Gul Plaza kills six, IndiaBlooms.
3. Karachi: 40pc Gul Plaza fire brought under control, The Nation.
4. Analyzing Fire Incidents in Karachi, ResearchGate.
5. Pakistan: Death toll rises to 6 in Karachi’s Gul Plaza fire, ANI.
6. Report on RJ Mall fire incident submitted, The Express Tribune.
7. 2023 Karachi mall fire, Wikipedia.
8. Three die as fire rips through another shopping mall in Karachi, Dawn.
9. SBCA clears four floors of fire-ravaged Arshi Mall, The News International.
10. ‘Short circuit primary cause of Hafeez Centre blaze’, Dawn.
11. Fire rips through Gulberg mall, The Express Tribune.
12. Probe fails to find cause of mall fire, The Express Tribune.
13. A Shocking Report Unearthing the Corruption of SBCA, Scribd.
14. List of Dangerous Buildings, Karachi (April 2025), Scribd.
15. SBCA launches campaign to demolish dangerous buildings, Dawn.
16. Sindh High Court judgment on dangerous buildings, SHC.
17. MCI facing difficulties in enforcement of Building Codes, The Nation.
18. CDA intensifies crackdown on building bylaw violations, CDA.
19. Interim charge sheet filed in RJ Shopping Mall fire case, Dawn.
20. Building Code of Pakistan (Fire Safety), PEC.
21. Building Code of Pakistan – Fire Safety Provisions 2016, HEC.
22. Islamabad Fire Prevention and Life Safety Regulations, CDA.
23. PSQCA launches crackdown on substandard products, Pakistan Today.
24. The First Burns Center in Pakistan, Burns Centre Karachi.
25. Global Insurance Market Report 2025, IAIS.
26. Massive fire at Karachi electronics market causes millions in losses, Arab News.

Read: Governance Crisis: Air Quality Worsens

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Mohammad Ehsan Leghari is a water expert, former Member (Sindh), Indus River System Authority (IRSA), and former Managing Director, SIDA.

The post Karachi: The City That Burns first appeared on Sindh Courier.

Iqra Jokhio

Forests are often described as the lungs of the Earth, breathing life into the planet by absorbing carbon dioxide and releasing oxygen. They play a vital role in maintaining ecological balance, regulating rainfall, and preserving biodiversity. However, in recent decades, deforestation has emerged as a major global threat, contributing massively to climate change. The rapid clearing of forests not only accelerates global warming but also leads to severe environmental imbalances. Among the nations facing serious consequences of deforestation, Pakistan stands out as a country where the issue has reached alarming levels.

The connection between deforestation and climate change is deeply rooted in science. Trees naturally absorb carbon dioxide, a major greenhouse gas, and store it within their trunks, branches, and roots. When forests are cleared or burned, the stored carbon is released into the atmosphere, increasing greenhouse gas levels and contributing to global warming. Deforestation disrupts rainfall patterns, increases the Earth’s surface temperature, and causes soil degradation, all of which amplify the devastating effects of climate change.

In Pakistan, the situation is particularly troubling. Once rich in forest resources, the country now struggles with one of the highest deforestation rates in Asia. According to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, only 4.8% of Pakistan’s land area is covered by forests—far below the global average of 25%. Every year, about 27,000 hectares of forest are lost, largely due to human activities such as illegal logging, urban expansion, and agricultural encroachment. One of the biggest reasons behind this massive deforestation is the overwhelming reliance on wood as a primary energy source. Approximately 72% of the population, especially in rural areas, uses wood for cooking and heating. In addition to that, the construction industry, furniture manufacturing, and commercial usage consume over 50 million cubic feet of wood annually, and the demand continues to rise as the population grows.

The consequences of deforestation in Pakistan are already visible and devastating. Flash floods, soil erosion, and landslides have become more frequent due to the absence of tree roots that once held the soil together and absorbed excess rainwater. The catastrophic floods of 2010 and 2022, which displaced millions of people and caused billions in damages, were intensified by deforestation. Climate change, fueled by the loss of tree cover, is causing erratic weather patterns, prolonged droughts, unseasonal rains, and extreme heat waves. Pakistan now ranks among the top ten countries most vulnerable to climate change, according to the Global Climate Risk Index.

In addition to environmental destruction, deforestation has led to the loss of wildlife habitats. Pakistan is home to many endangered species, such as the snow leopard, markhor, and Indus River dolphin, all of which face increasing threats due to shrinking forests. Urban areas like Karachi and Lahore have also felt the heat as the disappearance of green belts has led to rising temperatures, worsening the urban heat island effect. Water shortages are becoming more severe, as forests play a crucial role in maintaining groundwater levels and ensuring steady river flows. The quality of air has also declined, with dust storms and air pollution causing respiratory problems and other health issues, particularly among children and the elderly.

In recent years, the government of Pakistan made some commendable announcements like ‘The Billion Tree Tsunami Project’ in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and the nationwide ‘Ten Billion Tree Tsunami Initiative’ but none of them implemented. In Sindh province also, the authorities claim planting millions of saplings every year, but with no results.

Read: Deforestation, poaching leave Pakistan’s wild parakeets on the brink

These efforts alone are not enough. There is a dire need for strict enforcement of environmental laws, sustainable forest management, and the promotion of alternative energy sources such as solar power, biogas, and wind energy. Raising awareness among the general public and involving local communities in conservation efforts is also essential for long-term success.

Deforestation is more than an environmental problem; it is a serious threat to our survival. The situation in Pakistan serves as a wake-up call for us to reflect on our actions and their consequences. We cannot afford to continue destroying forests without facing the repercussions. The Earth’s climate system is delicate, and every tree that falls pushes us closer to disaster. If we want a livable planet for ourselves and future generations, we must act now. Each one of us can contribute—by planting trees, reducing wood consumption, and supporting policies that protect our forests. Let us recognize that forests are not just natural resources but life-giving ecosystems that deserve our respect and protection. Together, we can still change the course of our future and restore the balance between nature and humanity.

Read: Sindh’s shrinking forests

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Iqra Jokhio is a 2^nd year student at Mass Communication Department, University of Karachi

The post Deforestation Causes Climate Disaster first appeared on Sindh Courier.

Alex Lantier

On Friday evening, September 8, at 11:11 p.m. local time, a devastating earthquake measuring 6.8 on the Richter scale struck southern Morocco, near Marrakech. The death toll has already surpassed 2,800 people, many in small, isolated towns in the High Atlas Mountains, where the quake was centered. At least 3,000 are wounded, many critically, and time is rapidly running out for many more still trapped under collapsed buildings.

While 18 died in Marrakech, a global center of tourism with a population of nearly 1 million, most died in mountain villages, whose old, vulnerable mud-brick houses were shattered by the quake. In one village, Tafeghaghte, 90 of 200 inhabitants are confirmed dead, with dozens more missing and feared to be dead or trapped in the rubble.

The few press reports emerging from these villages show that the Moroccan government is mostly leaving quake victims to fend for themselves. Private Citizens in Agadir, Marrakech and other areas less badly hit by the quake are having to buy food, water and other critical supplies and transport them to the villages in their personal cars.

“There’s no sign of the authorities for the moment. We’re so isolated here. Without benefactors, we would starve,” one inhabitant of a village hit by the quake, Mustapha El-Machmoum, told AFP. “We asked the authorities for tents yesterday, but nothing arrived. We’re sleeping on the ground in the cold. Adults can cope with this, but not the children.”

Moroccan King, a longstanding ally of US and French imperialism, was vacationing in his €80 million mansion in Paris when the quake hit. He has made no statement since his return to Morocco

Like the Turkish-Syrian earthquake that claimed many tens of thousands of lives last February, the Moroccan earthquake catastrophe is not only a natural disaster. The knowledge and technology exists to greatly limit the impact of such events. Their disastrous consequences are entirely bound up with existing economic interests and social conditions. Under capitalism, policy is dominated by the pursuit of corporate profit and personal wealth by the ruling elites, who are contemptuous of the lives of the masses of people.

The effectiveness of modern, earthquake-resistant housing and the necessity of building it are well known to scientists. The 2021 Fukushima earthquake in Japan, one of the world’s most earthquake-prone countries, reached over 7 on the Richter scale. Yet, thanks to the considerable investments in earthquake-resistant housing in Japan, only three people died and 16 were seriously injured.

The capitalist class, in control of every national government, has rejected the necessary spending on safer housing as an intolerable drain on its profits

In 2021, the International Journal of Disaster Risk Science found that 1.5 billion people live in earthquake-prone areas worldwide. A Forbes list of the 10 most quake-prone cities—Kathmandu, Istanbul, Delhi, Quito, Manila, Islamabad, San Salvador, Mexico City, Izmir and Jakarta—is largely made up of vast cities of millions of people. A 1999 Nature article warned, however, that earthquake-resistant housing is a “low priority,” adding: “The absence of earthquake-resistant construction in future cities would be indefensible.”

The capitalist class, in control of every national government, has rejected the necessary spending on safer housing as an intolerable drain on its profits. Instead, since 1990, trillions of dollars have gone to bank bailouts and the US-NATO wars in Yugoslavia, Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Mali and Ukraine. Today, the world’s eight wealthiest individuals own the same amount as half the world’s population. But in countless earthquake-prone areas, masses of people live in housing that can condemn them to death in case of a major quake.

Also read: Over 2,000 people killed as earthquake devastates Morocco

Morocco sits along the fault between the African and Eurasian tectonic plates and has seen major earthquakes, including in 1960 at Agadir and in 2004 at Al Hoceima. Yet not only are Moroccans left in unsafe mud-brick housing, but no preparations were made for substantial disaster response.

Moroccan King Mohammed VI, a longstanding ally of US and French imperialism, was vacationing in his €80 million mansion next to the Eiffel Tower in Paris when the quake hit. He has made no statement since his return to Morocco, only releasing a brief clip, without sound, of him talking to security and health officials. No other officials have yet been able to issue statements, Moroccan journalist Omar Brouksy said, as there is “a rule, unwritten but unswervingly obeyed, [that] states that no official can speak or make a public trip before the sovereign.”

In terms of cold indifference to the plight of the earthquake victims, the Moroccan king was surpassed only by that of France, a former colonial power in Morocco. France’s Moroccan diaspora numbers over 1.5 million people, and Marrakech is a highly popular vacation destination in France. Yet, after the Moroccan monarchy indicated that it preferred to invite Spanish, British, Qatari and UAE rescue teams rather than French ones, President Emmanuel Macron’s government announced a donation of just €5 million to rescue and aid organizations in Morocco.

This means that Macron is donating to Morocco the cost of just one of the 30 Caesar heavy artillery systems he has sent to Ukraine for the NATO war on Russia.

The indifference of capitalist governments to essential social needs of the working population, which they view with fear and hostility, inevitably recalls the last great Moroccan earthquake, thought to have surpassed the current Marrakech quake. In November 1755, twin earthquakes devastated the Portuguese city of Lisbon and the Moroccan city of Meknès.

In the passage in Candide that he devoted to the Lisbon earthquake, Enlightenment author Voltaire lampooned the defenders of the absolute monarchies that then ruled over Europe. The devastation from the Lisbon quake tore apart their complacent claims that “Everything is for the best in the best of all possible worlds.” Three decades after Voltaire published his work, the absolute monarchy by divine right was swept away by the French Revolution.

Also read: Natural disaster or man-made, why was Libya so vulnerable to floods?

Over two centuries later, the Moroccan earthquake exposes the bankruptcy of the capitalist order, which is no less corrupt and outlived than the French absolute monarchy was in Voltaire’s day.

In Libya, authorities of the Libyan National Army (LNA) reported that 2,000 were killed and over 5,000 missing after a dam broke and flood waters swept away much of the city of Derna. The LNA controls the eastern half of Libya, which has been divided between rival militias fighting a bloody civil war ever since the 2011 NATO war against Libya.

In Turkey, countless thousands of victims of the February quake still live in tents, while the Turkish government oversees the building of more non-earthquake-resistant housing into which workers are again to be forced—and in which thousands would again die in the next quake. Is there any doubt that, if the matter is left in the hands of stooges of the banks like Mohammed VI and Macron, they will prepare the next preventable earthquake catastrophe?

The way forward for the working class is to take control of the essential resources of world industry and trade

Around the world, the working class is faced with the reality that a tiny, irresponsible ruling elite squanders vast social resources essential to the well-being and even the survival of the population. Impervious to demands for change, it is obsessed with its pursuit of militarism and its own obscene wealth. This is true both in former colonial countries like Morocco and in imperialist “democracies” like France, where riot police this spring brutally repressed mass protests against Macron’s overwhelmingly unpopular pension cuts.

The way forward for the working class is to take control of the essential resources of world industry and trade by wresting them from the hands of the bourgeoisie and use them to meet basic social needs, including earthquake safety. As anger erupts across Europe and Africa—where masses of workers and youth are demanding that French troops leave countries like Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso—the objective conditions for such a struggle are emerging. It requires the unification of workers in Africa, Europe and internationally in a struggle against capitalism and for socialism.

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Courtesy: World Socialist Web Site (Posted on 11 September 2023)

The post The social roots of the Moroccan earthquake disaster first appeared on Sindh Courier.

Tandojam, Sindh

Sindh Agriculture University and the Department of Agriculture of Sindh have established a modern Geographical Information System (GIS) and Remote Sensing Center in the Faculty of Agricultural Engineering of the University for forecasting of the agricultural, climatic, irrigation, and soil conditions in the country in general and Sindh province in particular.

The Center was inaugurated on Wednesday by Vice Chancellor Dr. Fateh Marri, Provincial Secretary Agriculture Qazi Aijaz Mahesar and Faculty Dean Dr. Altaf Ali Siyal.

Addressing the opening ceremony, Vice Chancellor Dr. Fateh Marri said that our geographic data in the country is at HEC Islamabad only, while the sub-database unit is established at NED University Karachi, so establishing a data center at the university level is in dire need.

He said that this GIS laboratory will benefit the agricultural sector of the Sindh government, agricultural researchers, and university students. “A team, trained in this technology, will be available here. The relevant institutions and meteorologists of the country and especially of Sindh can predict disasters and droughts, while a database center will also be set up in the university.”

He said that there is still a lot of scope in the field of research, so modern agriculture has to be promoted to increase production per acre. In this context, agricultural institutions including the Sindh government should work together on modern projects.

Provincial Secretary of Agriculture Qazi Aijz Mahesar said that during the recent floods and rains, we faced difficulties in providing information on agricultural and other losses to national and international organizations because we did not have data validated by modern methods. He added that the establishment of GIS laboratory and database center will enable modern methods of crop reporting and monitoring of agriculture and climate conditions.

Dean Faculty of Agricultural Engineering, Dr. Altaf Ali Siyal, while giving a briefing, said that after the establishment of this center with the cooperation of the Department of Agriculture Sindh, agricultural research will be promoted by the use of geographical instruments, and the monitoring of natural resources and the use of GIS and remote sensing for mapping will enhance the capacity of faculty members, students, officials of the Department of Agriculture, technical staff of various government agencies.

He said after the establishment of this GIS lab, the university will offer GIS systems and remote sensing courses to undergraduate and postgraduate students.

Director General Agriculture Research Sindh Noor Muhammad Baloch, Dean Dr. Aijaz Ali Khooharo, Dean Dr. Syed Ghiyasuddin Shah Rashidi, Dean Dr. Manzoor Ali Abro, Dr. Farman Chandio, Dr. Irfan Shaikh and a large number of teachers and students were present. (PR)

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The post Geographical Information System and Remote Sensing Center established at Sindh Agriculture University first appeared on Sindh Courier.

The burgeoning climate crisis have caused devastations in the countries who are actually not responsible even. Our country is one of them who has paid heavy price as 103 districts are reported to be affected. The vulnerable situation of climate change is described and characterized that the threat of highly dangerous, irreversible changes to the global crisis and countries who are underdeveloped have little do with it.

Our country has suffered brutally due to climate change. Question lingers who is responsible for climate change destruction? The pollution, fossil fuel burning, industrial processes, transport and agriculture activities that had made Pakistan suffer from heavy rains, high floods and diseases formed after these disaster. Obviously, developed ones are solely responsible for all damages.

Stakeholders along with developed countries must come forward for the rescue of all affected countries on urgent basis.

AREEBA ALTAF

Karachi Sindh

The post Developed countries are responsible for Climate Change Disasters first appeared on Sindh Courier.