Gul Plaza Fire: Municipal Commissioner KMC records statement to probe

KARACHI: KMC Municipal Commissioner recorded statement to Gul Plaza fire inquiry commission, replying to the questionnaire of the judicial probe inquiring into the deadly fire in the shopping mall.

City Municipal Commissioner said that the KMC’s responsibility has been restricted to the main road.

“Removal of encroachments has been the responsibility of the Town Municipal Committee Saddar,” KMC official replied. “The Civil Defence Directorate has been responsible for the fire audit”.

He said the safety audit has been the mandate of the Rescue 1122 under the Emergency Rescue Service Act 2023. “Under the Sindh Local Govt. Act 2013 firefighting was the responsibility of the KMC,” he said. “In the 2023 Act, firefighting and rescue have been mandated to the Rescue 1122,” he said.

The KMC Council approved the transfer in its December 11, 2025, session.

KMC had voluntarily conducted fire safety audit of 200 city buildings, municipal commissioner said.

He said the KMC had submitted its fire safety audit report 2024 to the commissioner.

KMC top official said that the district administration didn’t take any tangible measures. “District Committees were constituted chair by the DC under the National Disaster Management Act,” he stated.

Under the PDMA guidelines a fire in city area considered as ‘disaster’, he said.

He said the traffic pressure on the M.A. Jinnah Road caused by the Green Line construction project.

After getting report of fire, crane, excavator, jackhammer and other machinery was deployed, he said.

Moreover, fire brigade officials, city wardens and other officials of municipal services were also deployed in the area.

In a previous hearing Director General Rescue 1122 Wajid Sibghatullah told the judicial commission that shutting down electricity of the shopping mall was the major mistake.

He said the lives could have been saved if Rescue 1122 was timely reported about the fire incident.

On Saturday night, January 17, a massive fire broke out at Gul Plaza on M.A. Jinnah Road, engulfing the commercial building and trapping dozens inside. The blaze raged for over 32 hours before being brought under control, exposing weaknesses of the city’s emergency response system.