Daily Times

April is fast turning out to be a cruel month for poor factory workers as yet another fire at a textile mill in Faisalabad (exactly in line with last year’s twin fires in Karachi) claimed the lives of five workers. While seven others are still in critical condition, the death of a 12-year-old would add to the horrors of this country’s textile industry that refuses to move beyond its barbaric obsession with cheap child labour.

As is the norm, the next few days might see a raging debate, pitting human rights activists against the business community. Heated buzzwords like sanctity of life and safety concerns would also be thrown in the mix and there might even appear severely-worded notices from the government. However, the minute some other crisis steps in, all interest will fizzle and tens of hundreds of workers will continue to battle for their livelihoods in unimaginable conditions. That major cities in Pakistan have yet to get hold of an effective firefighting system has repeatedly been said out loud.

The situation becomes particularly heart-wrenching in Karachi, the largest metropolis, where past experiences lament that no place – from oft-frequented restaurants to market buildings and warehouses to industrial units to various slums – can be called safe enough anymore. But we can’t keep blaming the inadequacy of the firefighters, their obsolete engines, and little to no availability of fire extinguishers when the industrial and construction sector refuses to pay any heed to invest in emergency measures.

Time and again, the absence of fire grenades and exit passages is found to have tremendously contributed to the human losses. In the case of a factory fire, the owners seem the least interested in taking a peek at the actual capacity of their units as they keep ordering the machines to mass-produce, day in and day out. While the authorities and the unions rush to the scene, desperate to lay the blame on one another and move on with business as usual, who would sit with the bereaved and listen to the plight of those whose brothers and husbands became fodder to the merciless flames?

What about the family who lost both father and son in just one masterstroke of bad fortune? Instead of promising assistance and compensation, the government would do well to investigate why safety standards remain lax in our country and the role of corruption in hiding them behind technicalities. *