400 notices to Shah Alam Market over fire safety

LAHORE
WALLED City Lahore Authority (WCLA) has served notices on more than 400 property owners in Shah Alam Market for not following the fire safety rules and risking the lives and valuables of citizens as well as traders.
Some five months back, a huge fire erupted at the market in which five people lost their lives. The fire fighters failed to reach the said building in time because of encroachments as well as illegal commercial construction. After this incident, WCLA Director General ordered to carry out a comprehensive fire fighting survey of this huge commercial hub.
Shah Alam Market in walled city of Lahore is the biggest hub of wholesale shopping. The place has been congested due to construction of hundreds of illegal plazas and basements which had narrowed the already narrow streets. A serious safety hazard in the bazaar is the absence of any escape route in case of fire, which is also a serious threat to the heritage.
A senior official of WCLA said the WCLA was taking measures to control the issue of unforeseen mishaps. Social mobilisation team of WCLA has conducted a survey regarding fire safety at Shah Alam Market and the survey is now almost complete.
The survey consists of ownership of property, fire exit, and availability of fire extinguishers, electricity breaker, and electricity panel. Following the survey, WCLA has sent notices to over 400 property owners who have not put the fire safety equipment in their buildings. They were directed to take immediate fire fighting measures and in case of failure the WCLA would seal their premises besides taking legal action against the owners.
Giving history of ‘Shah-Alami Gate’, Yasir Arafat, Assistant Director Social Mobilisation of WCLA said the market was named on one of the 12 gates of the city, which was named after the one of the sons of Mughal emperor Aurangzeb, Shah Alam-I. Today only the name survives. Shah Alam Market, located adjacent to the site of the gate, has been a thriving centre of commerce for over a century. Accessories, cosmetics, electronic goods, handicrafts, antiques, stationery, crockery, genuine items and counterfeits, brand new, reconditioned or spare parts - anything one can think of is available here. There are nearly 10,000 shops in this market.
Asif Zaheer, Director Marketing, WCLA said the shops inside Shah Alam Market are small and big, with several basements due to which the escape during any fire incident is not possible. The teams are surveying and letting the property owners know about the loopholes in their buildings. The building control cell of WCLA is also involved in these surveys with the Social Mobilisation team.
Tanya Qureshi, a senior WCLA official said, the social mobilisation team of the authority was conducting the same survey on Azam Cloth Market, Pakistan Cloth Market and Moti Bazaar. She said during the 1947 independence riots, Shah Alam gate was burned. Before partition, Shalmi was mostly a Hindu populated area with businesses owned by Hindus. During 1947 partition riots, Shalmi market was entirely burnt. Most of the Hindus fled to India because of this, she said. The market is congested like no other place in the walled city. The market has enriched generations of merchants, the Sikhs and Hindus before partition, and Pathans, Afghans and current residents, all of whom came to the market later.
DG WCLA Kamran Lashari while talking with The News said safety was important for everyone, especially inside the heritage area of walled city of Lahore. The place has been having serious incidents and WCLA is trying its best to combat those. All the big markets must be made safe for the traders as well as the community.
Nosheen Zaidi, Deputy Director Social Mobilisation, said this was a challenging task to implement fire fighting system in the walled city. Such a survey is being conducted for the first time in walled city. The community is happy on this and very supportive. She said in future we would also plan a firefighting training for the markets and traders.
This training will not only help to cope with fire in
emergency situation but will also help to handle the hazardous situation efficiently without any anxiety.