\n<\/p>\n
A judicial commission investigating the Gul Plaza fire in Karachi has identified the responsibilities of the parties involved, finding that the tragedy was not the result of a single institution\u2019s failure but a collective failure of the system. The commission also attributed it to the collective failure of successive provincial and local governments.<\/strong><\/p>\n The Sindh Home Department has released the inquiry commission\u2019s report, which details a series of safety violations and failures before and during the fire.<\/p>\n The report found that Gul Plaza had remained in commercial use despite being considered hazardous and despite continued violations of fire safety regulations.<\/p>\n It said the Gul Plaza building\u2019s management failed to address known safety deficiencies. Civil Defence inspections in 2024 and 2025 had identified the absence of fire safety equipment, the presence of inflammable materials and problems with emergency exits.<\/p>\n The commission also criticized the delay in alerting the fire brigade, describing it as an \u2018extremely unwise\u2019 failure.<\/p>\n The situation was further worsened following electricity was disconnected, leaving parts of the building in darkness and reducing the chances of people escaping from the upper floors.<\/p>\n Although the building had a public-address speaker system, it was not used during the emergency, the report said.<\/p>\n The commission also found discrepancies in the number of shops. The regularized plan listed 1,102 shops, while the actual number was 1,153.<\/p>\n Large quantities of flammable commercial goods were stored inside the shops. The report also criticized the fire brigade\u2019s response, saying it was delayed despite its own response standards.<\/p>\n According to the inquiry commission report, effective firefighting operations began approximately\u00a035 to 40 minutes after the fire broke out.<\/p>\n A shortage of water and delays in refilling supplies further hampered firefighting and rescue operations.<\/p>\n In its report, Justice Agha Faisal also included a verse by Pakistani poet Mustafa Zaidi:<\/p>\n \u201cOn whose hands should I search for my blood, when the entire city is wearing gloves?\u201d ( Main Kis ka hath par apna laho talash karon , tamam Sher na pehna hua han dastana)<\/p>\n The commission\u2019s findings point to failures by multiple stakeholders, rather than attributing the tragedy to a single department or organization.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n