The Sindh Building Control Authority (SBCA) has formally submitted a detailed written response to the judicial commission investigating the devastating fire that engulfed Gul Plaza, a prominent shopping mall in Karachi, earlier this year. The blaze, which broke out on the night of January 17, tragically claimed multiple lives and exposed significant vulnerabilities in the city’s emergency preparedness and building safety oversight.
In its submission, the SBCA outlined the historical background of the building’s approvals and modifications. The initial building plan for Gul Plaza was issued by the Karachi Development Authority (KDA) back in August 1979. This original blueprint laid the foundation for the commercial structure, although the SBCA noted that the original documentation and records related to this initial approval are currently missing from their archives, making it difficult to verify the exact details of the first approved floors and their designated uses.
Further reviews and regularizations of the building plans took place in 1998 and again in 2003. The revised plans incorporated a basement, ground floor, and three upper floors, with the Karachi Building Control Authority (KBCA) granting approval for these changes. the SBCA, the 1998 plan authorized a total of 1,043 shops within Gul Plaza, while the 2003 regularization process, conducted under an amnesty scheme, increased this number to 1,102 shops. Notably, the 1998 plan included 115 substandard internal shop divisions, and the 2003 amendments added another 59 shops, 26 of which were also classified as substandard.
The SBCA emphasized that their mandate does not include continuous monitoring of buildings after their completion unless new construction or alterations are reported to the authority. The regularization plans for Gul Plaza clearly indicated the presence of staircases extending from the basement up to the third floor. The last formal survey conducted by the SBCA on the premises was on February 22, 2003. During this inspection, certain irregularities were identified; however, these were addressed and regularized through the amnesty scheme by collecting the applicable fees. Importantly, the building was not officially declared dangerous prior to the fire incident. It was only after the tragic event that a technical committee inspected the site and formally labeled the structure as hazardous.
The fire at Gul Plaza, located on the busy M.A. Jinnah Road, erupted late on the evening of January 17 and raged uncontrollably for more than 32 hours. The inferno trapped dozens of people inside the commercial complex, resulting in a heartbreaking loss of life and significant property damage. The prolonged blaze highlighted serious shortcomings in Karachi’s emergency response capabilities, raising urgent questions about fire safety enforcement and disaster management in the city’s densely populated commercial zones.
As the judicial commission continues its inquiry, the SBCA’s written reply provides crucial insights into the building’s regulatory history and the challenges faced in monitoring compliance. The tragedy at Gul Plaza has sparked renewed calls for stricter enforcement of building codes and improved coordination among city agencies to prevent such disasters in the future.
