Over 160 Karachi buildings remain non-compliant with fire safety rules

Karachi stands as the most vulnerable division in Sindh regarding fire safety in buildings, with 162 buildings still non-compliant as of now, according to data from the Provincial Disaster Management Authority's Fire Safety Audits Portal (FSAP). Out of the 907 identified buildings in Karachi, only 292 have undergone re-inspection in the second phase of the fire safety audit. The remaining 615 buildings await re-inspection.

The district-wise breakdown reveals that South District has 57 non-compliant and 104 partially compliant buildings, while Central District follows with 45 non-compliant, 69 partially compliant, and 71 substantially compliant buildings. East District has 15 non-compliant buildings, Korangi District shows significant improvement with 140 buildings substantially compliant, and Malir District has 7 non-compliant buildings.

West District has 11 non-compliant and 34 partially compliant buildings. The inspection of buildings has shown that some have deteriorated, slipping from medium to high-risk, and only 14 buildings improved from high to medium or high to low risk. A total of 2,216 buildings remain unvisited, accounting for over 63 percent of the total buildings surveyed.

Across the province, 3,486 buildings have been identified as non-compliant, with only 1,270 having been re-inspected. Of these, 61 are non-compliant, 457 partially compliant, and 752 substantially compliant. The overall risk assessment of all 3,486 buildings shows that 486 (13 percent) are high-risk, 1,199 (34 percent) medium-risk, and 1,829 (52 percent) low-risk. This means 47 percent of all buildings audited remain in the medium- or high-risk category.