- Email: [email protected]
Approach to Fire-related Disaster Management in High Density Urban-area
Available online at www.sciencedirect.com
ScienceDirect Procedia Engineering 77 (2014) 61 – 69
Fourth International Symposium on Infrastructure Engineering in Developing Countries, IEDC 2013
Approach to Fire-Related Disaster Management in High Density Urban-Area Muhammad Azeem Abdul Waheeda* a
Department of Urban and Infrastructure Engineering, NED University of Engineering and Technology, Karachi 75270, Pakistan
Abstract The first step to make any disaster plan for any urban area facilities, (such as any firm or industry), is to identify and mitigate the condition that might have caused the disaster. Karachi is one of the mega cities of Pakistan, having 18 large Towns which unplanned and internal conflict areas produced due to political instability and influence are involved. Unfortunately there are no comprehensive studies or statistical data that is available about the fire prevention emergency plans and disaster management plans for the commercial areas of Karachi. Using the case study of Baldia town factory, Karachi, this paper provides an approach to understand the system faults and the importance of development of a disaster management plan for an industrial unit. It recommends the co-ordination between various infrastructure facilities and Rescue agencies as well as government institutions. © 2014 2014 Elsevier The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. under the CC BY-NC-ND license © Ltd. This is an open access article Selection and peer-review under responsibility of the Department of Urban and Infrastructure Engineering, NED University of (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/). Engineeringunder and Technology. Peer-review responsibility of the Accounting Research Institute, Universiti Teknologi MARA. Keywords: Disaster Management plan and terminologies; Karachi in fire emergency; Ali Enterpriese Baldia Town Factory;
1. Introduction Pakistan has now become one of the most disaster prone countries in the last decade or so. There are two kinds of disasters, Natural disaster and Man-made disaster, like fire accident, flood, earth quick etc. Pakistan has now become one of the most disaster prone countries in the last decade or so. There are two kinds of disasters, Natural
* Corresponding Author. Tel.: 092-333-310-0630. E-mail address:[email protected]
1877-7058 © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/).
Selection and peer-review under responsibility of the Department of Urban and Infrastructure Engineering, NED University of Engineering and Technology doi:10.1016/j.proeng.2014.07.007
62
Muhammad Azeem Abdul Waheed / Procedia Engineering 77 (2014) 61 – 69
disaster and Man-made disaster. In September 2012 Karachi experienced a massive industrial disaster garments factory, called Ali Enterprise, and caught a massive fire in Baldia town. According to investigations conducted by the investigative authorities this fire was the most damaging in the history of Karachi. Factory officials and survivors have said that there were about 650 people working inside the factory when the fire broke out [1].350 or more people are reported to be dead as they couldn’t escape from the blazing fire. The building reportedly had limited exit points. Building was only having one accessible exit and other internal door was locked. Windows on the top floor of this multi-storied building was covered by iron grill. This was one of the reasons for the heavy loss of human lives. Taking the example of Thailand, The fire which broke out at KlongToey port at Bangkok in the year 1992 made Thai government realize that conventional methods like using water for extinguishing flames are now need to be changed, they simply accelerates the rate and spread of chemical fire and quickly it went beyond the coping capacity of port. Before the fire had been brought under control, 10 peoples had died and 27 had been injured. Still the government failed to improve fire fighting capability that is until the 1992 industrial fire at the Kadir Doll Factory which resulted in 187 dead. Thai Govt. worked hard to improve the fire fighting techniques. Fire-fighters are now much trained with the help of western countries, to have necessary equipment to better deal with different varieties of chemical fire. The political will of Thai authorities has been sufficient to bring about this required change in management [2] Example of Thailand accident is vital with respect to this case study, after such an accident the government gave first priority to this issue in order to make their fire fighting department as per international standards. 1.1. Element Of Disaster Management Plan Many research studies have been conducted in many parts of the world to minimize the impact and occurrence of these disasters. The aim is to manage the disasters in a systematic method to minimize the damage so that people could return back to their normal life as quickly as possible Pakistan has now become one of the most disaster prone countries in the last decade or so. The most important part of disaster management is design face in term of careful structural design, Analysis and evaluation of factor that lead towards hazards. Construction and operation will allow predicting reasonable level of confidence, un-planned event that may create emergency. These considerations enable management to help in preparing an effective plan be based on indentifying the hazards techniques, prediction, and prevention, beside preparation to cope with it. [3] A detail analysis has to be made from the following view points x Identification of hazards, chemicals, paints, woods, processes and operations x Release scenario, consequences in terms of heat hazard, fire hazard, radiation and intoxication x Preparation of plot and site plan, with respect to available resources, survey, feasible path to provide help and incorporate the damages x Identification of vulnerable zone x Identification of important facilities in vulnerable zone x Requirement of various departments for coping with emergency situation. 2. Methodology For The Disaster Management Plan Disasters have gloomily affected human life since our existence. In response to this, an individual or a society can have many approaches to decrease and reverse the harmful effects of these disasters. Modern disaster management terminology has to be defined with full range of disaster management and emergency planning. Comprehensive disaster management is based upon four distinct components: 1. Mitigation, 2. Preparedness, 3. Response 4. Recovery Many developing countries are now slowly realizing the importance of beneficial disaster management and
Muhammad Azeem Abdul Waheed / Procedia Engineering 77 (2014) 61 – 69
emergency planning and moving towards the safe and better approach to minimize the hazards of disasters. It has now been understood that public participation is one of the key factors for implementation of a successful disaster risk reduction. All of the above and other important parameters, which are to be defined below, should also be considered so that the damages could be kept to minimum. [4] 2.1. Safe Area Selection Availability of open areas nearby the disaster prone zone must be recognized as a safe area. It is also one of the important factors that could minimize the impact in case of emergency. 2.2. Optimum Path In this step, after selecting a safe area for each of the major hazards origins, identify an ideal safe path so as to provide social infrastructure to the spotted vulnerable location. This ideal path should be designed with the help of computing tools and discussed and shared with the concerned authorities to avoid a disturbing scenario. 2.3. Emergency Care and Transport for the injured It is most neglected part while preparing the disaster management and emergency planning especially in case of mega city Karachi. In Karachi there are three Big Government hospitals that are operating. In case of an emergency most of the medical aid will be likely provided by them. So planning for a medical facility is extremely important. Taking medical experts on the board will help in order to build an effective disaster management plan for any town or city or any urbanized area. 3. Karachi In Fire Emergency Karachi is the main hub for commerce and trade in Pakistan. It consists of 18 towns with competing commercial activities. Most of areas are un-planned, the big reason of this slums are planning lacking and political influence in the society, which brings a socially and economical hitch in overall condition of the city. 3.1. Fire Services Condition in Karachi City Karachi’s various commercial buildingsare quitesusceptible tofire. Such a frequency shows that there is noproper rescueplan to mitigate the impact of disasters.Most of our commercial places like saddar, bori-bazaar, jamia-cloth, M.A Jinnah Roads are always under a threat of fire as theyare not only densely populated but their routes and internal conditions are quite perilous. Some of them are not even wide enough for the fire tender to go throughwhile rescue operation. On top of that our fire department also has many faults as it lacks in advance technology or equipment. The staffs are not trained as per international standardsdue to lack of government interest and funding. In factnot involving the fire department in making the disaster management plan at all is quite alarming. If we look at the statistical figure of Karachi fire station we find that there are only 18 fire stations in Karachi,See Fig. 1. Out of which only 10 Fire stationshavethe capacity to control massive fires, and rest of the 8 fire stations need a backup in case of a huge fire.The Firemen and their equipmentare not even capable to survive in critical conditions due to lack of man power and proper machinery. The fire tending vehicle is also not properly managed; only 2 vehicles are available in each station for fighting. Karachi is under the outbreak of un-planned slum areas. 55 % of area of Karachi is under this menace because of which the fire brigade doesn’t have ideal path accessibility towards the emergency spot in majority of the cases. 3.2. Current Problems Karachi Fire Brigade is facing serious problems while fighting against fires and disasters x There is no proper link between fire brigade and state institutions
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Muhammad Azeem Abdul Waheed / Procedia Engineering 77 (2014) 61 – 69
x x x x x x
irregular coordination among the fire tenders Modern firefighting technologies are required Availability of Fire Hydrants is a big issue forfirefighting department The potential resources could not be transfer to fire authorities and City Chief Fire Officer to realize successful fire fighting against disaster Fire Prevention is not included in any educational syllabus Fire PreventionDept. could not be established
Fig. 1 Karachi Fire Stations
If we look at the way rescue operationsare conducted in Karachi, one could easily deduce that the performance of the firefighting department has been deteriorating. Lack of technical expertise and availability of new gadgets and budget has resulted in such a scenario. So if the rescue department is not as capable as it should be how can we actually survive in a calamity?Out of the 18 towns, 10 are almost commercial areas and most of the remaining residential areas are also having commercial activities.There are only 20 fire stations to serve 18 towns which are quite densely populated.These are not even maintained as per international standards. Looking at the statistics of the fire stations in Karachi one could come to a startling revelation. Table 1 clearly representing the massive industrial zones in Karachi, asonly large production units are visible in the image a small number of units are
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Muhammad Azeem Abdul Waheed / Procedia Engineering 77 (2014) 61 – 69
almost are 3 to 5 times in all commercial and residential towns the number. 4. Ali Enterprise Baldia Town Garment Factory Ali enterprise was one of the major garment industry units in Karachi.It was established 12 years ago near main hub river road. It used to export its garments toEurope and United State. The factory employed 2000 workers. Ali Enterprise see Fig. 2. Manufactured denim, knitted garment and hosiery and had a capital between about $10 million to $ 50 million. Ali enterprise were granted the certification of prestigious SA8000, in August 2012, which meantthat it met all standards in nine areas including health, safety, child labour, and wages. It also passedthe international fire safety testmerely justweeksafter getting standardized.
Table 1. Karachi Town List and Union Council with Approx Population Town Category
Fire Stations
Population
No Of U.C
Lyari Town
Commercial cum Residential
01
607,992
11
Saddar Town
Commercial
01
616,151
11 13
Jamshed Town
Residential
02
733,821
Gadap Town
Low density
00
289,564
8
SITE Town
Commercial
01
467,560
9
Kemari Town
Commercial
03
383,778
8
Shah Faisal Town
Residential
01
335,823
7
Korangi Town
Commercial cum Residential
00
546,504
9
Landhi Town
Commercial cum Residential
01
666,748
12
Bin Qasim Town
Commercial cum
01
315,684
7
Malir Town
Residential
00
604,763
7
Gulshan-e-Iqbal Town
Residential
01
646,662
13
Liaquatabad Town
Residential
00
649,091
11
North Nazimabad Town
Residential
01
500,000
10
Gulberg Town
Residential
01
453,490
8
New Karachi Town
Commercial cum Residential
01
684,183
13
Orangi Town
Residential
01
723,694
13
Baldia Town
Commercial cum Residential
01
406,165
8
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Muhammad Azeem Abdul Waheed / Procedia Engineering 77 (2014) 61 – 69
Fig. 2 Baldia Town Productionn Zone & Ali Enterrprise (Fire Accideent Victimized facctory) 4.1. Technical Anaalysis Ali eenterprise had many m technicaal faults which ledto huge dam mages. The buiilding was not built as per thee submitted plans; two floors wereillegally constructed without w any consultationfro c om the KDA.N No Emergenccyplan was preppared in case of o disaster.Therre was only onne access doorr for multistorried buildings which w was useed for both w highly combustible entraance and exit.. All windowss werecovereddwithiron grills. The Factorry was filled with mateerials such as dying d chemicals and even gaarments for thaat matter. Wom men were 40 % of the manpoower in the factoory and they were w placed at the top floor. Door D in the faactory was lockkedleading to futile f rescue efffort which resullted inone of the t worst indu ustrial disasterss in history. Thherewas no prroper alarming system in thee factory to warnn the other worrkersof any daanger.No propeer firefightingoor preventing setup s was availlable in the uppper part of the bbuilding. The key k element off a proper disaaster managem ment plan is thee emergency exxit. The reasonn is when a persoon is stuck in panics.Confussion touché sitss peak.Many casualtiestook c p place due tostaampedeas therre had been no pprior knowledge of any emerg gency exit.Mosst of the workiing staff in thee factory were illiterate i they didn’t d even know w how to reactt in an emergeency situation.T The factory maanagement nevver conducted anylecture on health and safetty. Fire tenderss came after 75 5 minutes of thhe beginning off fire by the tim me they reacheed it had gone completely out oof control. Firre fighters had no prior expeerience or trainning in dealingg with such a massive fire. They even didnn’t have enoughh water suppliees to counter this t monster noonstop. Only one o fire station was situated in i the town of acccident.Help was w sought from m the nearest fire f station.Thee fire tenders from fr other areaas took 30 minuutes longer to reeach the locatioon due to the commercial c natture of the tow wn and its surrooundings. The traffic t conditioon was also one of the factorss which affecteed the rescue team from heelping the victtims.Citymeasuure hospitals like l Jinnah Postgraduate Hosppitals, Abbasi--Shaheed Hospital as well as private maajor hospitals are quite farr from this c e losses of hum mans lifeand leed to survivors having the afteereffects of locattion.Traffic conndition of the citycausedhuge Post-Traumatic Strress Disorder, It was also wiitnessed that thhe coordinationn between resccue authorities and public Disaster of Balddia town is onee of the worst examplesof the failure of admiinistration hadd been terribly insignificant.D respoonding authoriities. All secto ors were responnsible for suchh a massive traagedy. It is now w being obserrved that in Balddia town itself there are many y other industries that are moore or less haviing the same situation as Alii Enterprise whicch is quite alarm ming. 4.2. Route for the Fire F Tender Routte for the fire tenderhasa t crittical role to prrovide the first relief operatioons. In case off Baldia town factory f fire
Muhammad Azeem Abdul Waheed / Procedia Engineering 77 (2014) 61 – 69
tender reached the spot after75 minutes; this wasone of the major reasons due to which the fire got out of control. Conducting some technical analysis as shown in Fig. 3 we came to the following conclusion that there are three fire stations that are located near to the emergency spot, 1. Baldia town Fire Station 2. S.I.T.E Fire Station (M AqeelShaheed Fire Station) 3. Lyari Fire Station ( Miran Naka Fire Station)
Fig.3. Distance between Facility & Immediate Fire Stations
It’s clear that range of fire station for the factory was satisfactory,but the question then is why the fire tender were so late? Numerous reasons can be held responsible for this delay such as Traffic condition, Lack of Coordination between fire stations, emergency preparedness planning, and non-availability of resources. Below mentioned table shows the distance between the victimized factory and three different fire stations. Table 2: Distance between Facility & Immediate Fire Stations Fire Station Baldia Town Fire Station S.I.T.E Fire Station Lyari Fire Station
Facility Ali Enterprise Factory Ali Enterprise Factory Ali Enterprise Factory
Distance in KM 7 Km 3 Km 5 Km
4.3. Traffic Condition S.I.T.E town and Lyari town are the commercial hubs of Karachi.Trafficis quite congested in these areas which makeit difficult to provide immediate aid and response inan emergency circumstance.S.I.T.E Town is a densely populated urban area with many production units.Despite the fire station being close by affected building, S.I.T.E traffic congestion and road condition made it difficult for fire tenders to come at emergency spot on time Sher-shah is one of the most critical spotsdue to traffic and law &order conditionsfrom quite a long Lyari town is one of the most affected areas of Karachibecause of the recurringlaw &order scenario that heavily affects all sectors as well as traffic condition. Roads of Lyari town are congested and are not properly managed.Most of the major link roads are encroached and are also damaged due to no properdrainage system.
4.4. Lack of coordination between public services agencies Baldia town fire incident is the most terrible example of negligent management and poor disaster response scenario.There was no proper coordination between rescue agencies and recovery sector. No government officials werepresent resulting people aiding the victims on their own. Police, ambulance, fire tenders, medical aid and
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Muhammad Azeem Abdul Waheed / Procedia Engineering 77 (2014) 61 – 69
hospitalswere at the peak of confusion. There was no inter departmental coordination and astonishingly all sectors were depended on media news.
5. Significance to Urban Engineering Perspective Education is one of the mostdistinguished ways to deliver and impart the concept of disaster management and fire prevention. Educational institutions are a key player for imparting knowledge and introducing the importance of this subject in our society. Most of the stakeholders in our society don’t even know how to react and behave in case a disaster strikes. NED University is the only professional institute that gives the awareness under the discipline of Urban & Infrastructure Engineering. Urban Engineers have a great legacy to deal with the setting of disaster management as well as solving the problems of a highly urbanized society. Urban graduates are professional engineers possessing knowledge related to design, construction and maintenance of infrastructure, assets management, traffic engineering & disaster management. They possess skills that our civic agencies & Government/ Non- Government Organizations require. Under this Disciplinean Urban Engineer can cover the knowledge in Urban Hydrology, Municipal engineering, Advanced Technologies & Disaster Management; Environmental Impact Assessment; law & Regulatory Control Studies; Financial Resource Management; Maintenance Rehabilitation & Repair, Hydraulic Engineering and Water Resource Management.Thesevitalinformation and skills make urban engineers quite significant for the urban Society. In particular educational institutions, society, family and personal thinking are the key factors to understand the importance of disaster planning. We can derive an equation by combining all crucialdynamics to understand scenario of disaster planning. Effective disaster planning = effective education + effective society + effective family + effective personal thinking.
6. Conclusion & Recommendations Pakistan isprone to disaster at multiple levels.In Pakistan Disaster Management is in its early stage yet it still needs to be more independent and resilient in technical and new gadget expertise to be established as an efficient system. It is very important to carry out studies in a comprehensive way to identify the risk factor that involvesvulnerabilities and solutions to mitigate its impact. Here are some recommendations that could help in minimizing the effects. 6.1. Importance of Disaster Management x x x x x x x x
It’s the responsibility of industries to comply withthe Factory Act Rules, and formulate a disaster management plan to combat against catastrophesandreturn back to normal life. Arrange lectures, conference or seminars on a yearly basis about the importance of disaster management plan. Organize and create strong links with rescue authorities about the Hospitals involvement, ideal path, and open area evaluation at the most vulnerable spots Rolesshould be properly allocated among various agencies, organization, and individual for an effective response. Labor Law should be strictly implemented especially in the case of Child, Women and old age labor. Medical or first aid responseshould be prepared in case of an emergency. Design Disaster Management Plan with all its procedures. Helpline and rescue numbers should be provided and be visible in all quarters of the facility.
Muhammad Azeem Abdul Waheed / Procedia Engineering 77 (2014) 61 – 69
6.2. Fire Fighting Recommendations x x x x x
Coordination should be created between all the firefighting teams Determination, of authorities and responsibilities between state and local administrations at execution of fire stations To prepare the training program and exam at first entrance, of fire fighting job, ranking and for top administration at international standard Fire prevention setup, international standard of hydrant in city Fire stations should be situated at suitable areasoverlooking the traffic congestion and areas of riskin the city.
6.3. Things can be done x x x
Urbanizations in an important issue that should be dealtat all levels.Education sector should be among these Importance of an Urban Engineer in society to provide solutions and to control the kind of accidentsthat occur in urbanized areas Creating more efficient plan to shun panic and perplexity in case of an emergency
Acknowledgements This paper is dedicated in the memory of all the victims of the Baldia town tragedy. The author would like to thank Prof. Dr. Mir Shabbar Ali, Chairman of Urban & Infrastructure Department, and NED University. The author would also like to thank Mr. SaboorShahid and Mr. Waqas Muhammad for their generous help and support for completing this paper. References [1] Zia ,Walsh D.,and Masood S., 2012 , Lax Regulations Blamed as Fires Kill Hundreds In Pakistan , A version of this article appears in print , on page A6 of the New York edition September 12, 2012 [2]Shook,G.,1997.An assessment of Disaster Risk and its Management in Thailand, Disasters, Volume 21, Issue 1, pages 77–88, March 1997,. [3] M. Shah Alam Khan, (2008) "Disaster preparedness for sustainable development in Bangladesh", Disaster Prevention and Management, Vol. 17 Issue: 5, pp.662 – 671 [4]Koichi Shiwaku, Rajib Shaw., 2007., Future perspective of school disaster education in Nepal, Disaster Prevention and Management, Vol. 16 Iss: 4, pp.576 - 587, Publisher Emerald Group Publishing Limited.
69
ScienceDirect Procedia Engineering 77 (2014) 61 – 69
Fourth International Symposium on Infrastructure Engineering in Developing Countries, IEDC 2013
Approach to Fire-Related Disaster Management in High Density Urban-Area Muhammad Azeem Abdul Waheeda* a
Department of Urban and Infrastructure Engineering, NED University of Engineering and Technology, Karachi 75270, Pakistan
Abstract The first step to make any disaster plan for any urban area facilities, (such as any firm or industry), is to identify and mitigate the condition that might have caused the disaster. Karachi is one of the mega cities of Pakistan, having 18 large Towns which unplanned and internal conflict areas produced due to political instability and influence are involved. Unfortunately there are no comprehensive studies or statistical data that is available about the fire prevention emergency plans and disaster management plans for the commercial areas of Karachi. Using the case study of Baldia town factory, Karachi, this paper provides an approach to understand the system faults and the importance of development of a disaster management plan for an industrial unit. It recommends the co-ordination between various infrastructure facilities and Rescue agencies as well as government institutions. © 2014 2014 Elsevier The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. under the CC BY-NC-ND license © Ltd. This is an open access article Selection and peer-review under responsibility of the Department of Urban and Infrastructure Engineering, NED University of (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/). Engineeringunder and Technology. Peer-review responsibility of the Accounting Research Institute, Universiti Teknologi MARA. Keywords: Disaster Management plan and terminologies; Karachi in fire emergency; Ali Enterpriese Baldia Town Factory;
1. Introduction Pakistan has now become one of the most disaster prone countries in the last decade or so. There are two kinds of disasters, Natural disaster and Man-made disaster, like fire accident, flood, earth quick etc. Pakistan has now become one of the most disaster prone countries in the last decade or so. There are two kinds of disasters, Natural
* Corresponding Author. Tel.: 092-333-310-0630. E-mail address:[email protected]
1877-7058 © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/).
Selection and peer-review under responsibility of the Department of Urban and Infrastructure Engineering, NED University of Engineering and Technology doi:10.1016/j.proeng.2014.07.007
62
Muhammad Azeem Abdul Waheed / Procedia Engineering 77 (2014) 61 – 69
disaster and Man-made disaster. In September 2012 Karachi experienced a massive industrial disaster garments factory, called Ali Enterprise, and caught a massive fire in Baldia town. According to investigations conducted by the investigative authorities this fire was the most damaging in the history of Karachi. Factory officials and survivors have said that there were about 650 people working inside the factory when the fire broke out [1].350 or more people are reported to be dead as they couldn’t escape from the blazing fire. The building reportedly had limited exit points. Building was only having one accessible exit and other internal door was locked. Windows on the top floor of this multi-storied building was covered by iron grill. This was one of the reasons for the heavy loss of human lives. Taking the example of Thailand, The fire which broke out at KlongToey port at Bangkok in the year 1992 made Thai government realize that conventional methods like using water for extinguishing flames are now need to be changed, they simply accelerates the rate and spread of chemical fire and quickly it went beyond the coping capacity of port. Before the fire had been brought under control, 10 peoples had died and 27 had been injured. Still the government failed to improve fire fighting capability that is until the 1992 industrial fire at the Kadir Doll Factory which resulted in 187 dead. Thai Govt. worked hard to improve the fire fighting techniques. Fire-fighters are now much trained with the help of western countries, to have necessary equipment to better deal with different varieties of chemical fire. The political will of Thai authorities has been sufficient to bring about this required change in management [2] Example of Thailand accident is vital with respect to this case study, after such an accident the government gave first priority to this issue in order to make their fire fighting department as per international standards. 1.1. Element Of Disaster Management Plan Many research studies have been conducted in many parts of the world to minimize the impact and occurrence of these disasters. The aim is to manage the disasters in a systematic method to minimize the damage so that people could return back to their normal life as quickly as possible Pakistan has now become one of the most disaster prone countries in the last decade or so. The most important part of disaster management is design face in term of careful structural design, Analysis and evaluation of factor that lead towards hazards. Construction and operation will allow predicting reasonable level of confidence, un-planned event that may create emergency. These considerations enable management to help in preparing an effective plan be based on indentifying the hazards techniques, prediction, and prevention, beside preparation to cope with it. [3] A detail analysis has to be made from the following view points x Identification of hazards, chemicals, paints, woods, processes and operations x Release scenario, consequences in terms of heat hazard, fire hazard, radiation and intoxication x Preparation of plot and site plan, with respect to available resources, survey, feasible path to provide help and incorporate the damages x Identification of vulnerable zone x Identification of important facilities in vulnerable zone x Requirement of various departments for coping with emergency situation. 2. Methodology For The Disaster Management Plan Disasters have gloomily affected human life since our existence. In response to this, an individual or a society can have many approaches to decrease and reverse the harmful effects of these disasters. Modern disaster management terminology has to be defined with full range of disaster management and emergency planning. Comprehensive disaster management is based upon four distinct components: 1. Mitigation, 2. Preparedness, 3. Response 4. Recovery Many developing countries are now slowly realizing the importance of beneficial disaster management and
Muhammad Azeem Abdul Waheed / Procedia Engineering 77 (2014) 61 – 69
emergency planning and moving towards the safe and better approach to minimize the hazards of disasters. It has now been understood that public participation is one of the key factors for implementation of a successful disaster risk reduction. All of the above and other important parameters, which are to be defined below, should also be considered so that the damages could be kept to minimum. [4] 2.1. Safe Area Selection Availability of open areas nearby the disaster prone zone must be recognized as a safe area. It is also one of the important factors that could minimize the impact in case of emergency. 2.2. Optimum Path In this step, after selecting a safe area for each of the major hazards origins, identify an ideal safe path so as to provide social infrastructure to the spotted vulnerable location. This ideal path should be designed with the help of computing tools and discussed and shared with the concerned authorities to avoid a disturbing scenario. 2.3. Emergency Care and Transport for the injured It is most neglected part while preparing the disaster management and emergency planning especially in case of mega city Karachi. In Karachi there are three Big Government hospitals that are operating. In case of an emergency most of the medical aid will be likely provided by them. So planning for a medical facility is extremely important. Taking medical experts on the board will help in order to build an effective disaster management plan for any town or city or any urbanized area. 3. Karachi In Fire Emergency Karachi is the main hub for commerce and trade in Pakistan. It consists of 18 towns with competing commercial activities. Most of areas are un-planned, the big reason of this slums are planning lacking and political influence in the society, which brings a socially and economical hitch in overall condition of the city. 3.1. Fire Services Condition in Karachi City Karachi’s various commercial buildingsare quitesusceptible tofire. Such a frequency shows that there is noproper rescueplan to mitigate the impact of disasters.Most of our commercial places like saddar, bori-bazaar, jamia-cloth, M.A Jinnah Roads are always under a threat of fire as theyare not only densely populated but their routes and internal conditions are quite perilous. Some of them are not even wide enough for the fire tender to go throughwhile rescue operation. On top of that our fire department also has many faults as it lacks in advance technology or equipment. The staffs are not trained as per international standardsdue to lack of government interest and funding. In factnot involving the fire department in making the disaster management plan at all is quite alarming. If we look at the statistical figure of Karachi fire station we find that there are only 18 fire stations in Karachi,See Fig. 1. Out of which only 10 Fire stationshavethe capacity to control massive fires, and rest of the 8 fire stations need a backup in case of a huge fire.The Firemen and their equipmentare not even capable to survive in critical conditions due to lack of man power and proper machinery. The fire tending vehicle is also not properly managed; only 2 vehicles are available in each station for fighting. Karachi is under the outbreak of un-planned slum areas. 55 % of area of Karachi is under this menace because of which the fire brigade doesn’t have ideal path accessibility towards the emergency spot in majority of the cases. 3.2. Current Problems Karachi Fire Brigade is facing serious problems while fighting against fires and disasters x There is no proper link between fire brigade and state institutions
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Muhammad Azeem Abdul Waheed / Procedia Engineering 77 (2014) 61 – 69
x x x x x x
irregular coordination among the fire tenders Modern firefighting technologies are required Availability of Fire Hydrants is a big issue forfirefighting department The potential resources could not be transfer to fire authorities and City Chief Fire Officer to realize successful fire fighting against disaster Fire Prevention is not included in any educational syllabus Fire PreventionDept. could not be established
Fig. 1 Karachi Fire Stations
If we look at the way rescue operationsare conducted in Karachi, one could easily deduce that the performance of the firefighting department has been deteriorating. Lack of technical expertise and availability of new gadgets and budget has resulted in such a scenario. So if the rescue department is not as capable as it should be how can we actually survive in a calamity?Out of the 18 towns, 10 are almost commercial areas and most of the remaining residential areas are also having commercial activities.There are only 20 fire stations to serve 18 towns which are quite densely populated.These are not even maintained as per international standards. Looking at the statistics of the fire stations in Karachi one could come to a startling revelation. Table 1 clearly representing the massive industrial zones in Karachi, asonly large production units are visible in the image a small number of units are
65
Muhammad Azeem Abdul Waheed / Procedia Engineering 77 (2014) 61 – 69
almost are 3 to 5 times in all commercial and residential towns the number. 4. Ali Enterprise Baldia Town Garment Factory Ali enterprise was one of the major garment industry units in Karachi.It was established 12 years ago near main hub river road. It used to export its garments toEurope and United State. The factory employed 2000 workers. Ali Enterprise see Fig. 2. Manufactured denim, knitted garment and hosiery and had a capital between about $10 million to $ 50 million. Ali enterprise were granted the certification of prestigious SA8000, in August 2012, which meantthat it met all standards in nine areas including health, safety, child labour, and wages. It also passedthe international fire safety testmerely justweeksafter getting standardized.
Table 1. Karachi Town List and Union Council with Approx Population Town Category
Fire Stations
Population
No Of U.C
Lyari Town
Commercial cum Residential
01
607,992
11
Saddar Town
Commercial
01
616,151
11 13
Jamshed Town
Residential
02
733,821
Gadap Town
Low density
00
289,564
8
SITE Town
Commercial
01
467,560
9
Kemari Town
Commercial
03
383,778
8
Shah Faisal Town
Residential
01
335,823
7
Korangi Town
Commercial cum Residential
00
546,504
9
Landhi Town
Commercial cum Residential
01
666,748
12
Bin Qasim Town
Commercial cum
01
315,684
7
Malir Town
Residential
00
604,763
7
Gulshan-e-Iqbal Town
Residential
01
646,662
13
Liaquatabad Town
Residential
00
649,091
11
North Nazimabad Town
Residential
01
500,000
10
Gulberg Town
Residential
01
453,490
8
New Karachi Town
Commercial cum Residential
01
684,183
13
Orangi Town
Residential
01
723,694
13
Baldia Town
Commercial cum Residential
01
406,165
8
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Fig. 2 Baldia Town Productionn Zone & Ali Enterrprise (Fire Accideent Victimized facctory) 4.1. Technical Anaalysis Ali eenterprise had many m technicaal faults which ledto huge dam mages. The buiilding was not built as per thee submitted plans; two floors wereillegally constructed without w any consultationfro c om the KDA.N No Emergenccyplan was preppared in case of o disaster.Therre was only onne access doorr for multistorried buildings which w was useed for both w highly combustible entraance and exit.. All windowss werecovereddwithiron grills. The Factorry was filled with mateerials such as dying d chemicals and even gaarments for thaat matter. Wom men were 40 % of the manpoower in the factoory and they were w placed at the top floor. Door D in the faactory was lockkedleading to futile f rescue efffort which resullted inone of the t worst indu ustrial disasterss in history. Thherewas no prroper alarming system in thee factory to warnn the other worrkersof any daanger.No propeer firefightingoor preventing setup s was availlable in the uppper part of the bbuilding. The key k element off a proper disaaster managem ment plan is thee emergency exxit. The reasonn is when a persoon is stuck in panics.Confussion touché sitss peak.Many casualtiestook c p place due tostaampedeas therre had been no pprior knowledge of any emerg gency exit.Mosst of the workiing staff in thee factory were illiterate i they didn’t d even know w how to reactt in an emergeency situation.T The factory maanagement nevver conducted anylecture on health and safetty. Fire tenderss came after 75 5 minutes of thhe beginning off fire by the tim me they reacheed it had gone completely out oof control. Firre fighters had no prior expeerience or trainning in dealingg with such a massive fire. They even didnn’t have enoughh water suppliees to counter this t monster noonstop. Only one o fire station was situated in i the town of acccident.Help was w sought from m the nearest fire f station.Thee fire tenders from fr other areaas took 30 minuutes longer to reeach the locatioon due to the commercial c natture of the tow wn and its surrooundings. The traffic t conditioon was also one of the factorss which affecteed the rescue team from heelping the victtims.Citymeasuure hospitals like l Jinnah Postgraduate Hosppitals, Abbasi--Shaheed Hospital as well as private maajor hospitals are quite farr from this c e losses of hum mans lifeand leed to survivors having the afteereffects of locattion.Traffic conndition of the citycausedhuge Post-Traumatic Strress Disorder, It was also wiitnessed that thhe coordinationn between resccue authorities and public Disaster of Balddia town is onee of the worst examplesof the failure of admiinistration hadd been terribly insignificant.D respoonding authoriities. All secto ors were responnsible for suchh a massive traagedy. It is now w being obserrved that in Balddia town itself there are many y other industries that are moore or less haviing the same situation as Alii Enterprise whicch is quite alarm ming. 4.2. Route for the Fire F Tender Routte for the fire tenderhasa t crittical role to prrovide the first relief operatioons. In case off Baldia town factory f fire
Muhammad Azeem Abdul Waheed / Procedia Engineering 77 (2014) 61 – 69
tender reached the spot after75 minutes; this wasone of the major reasons due to which the fire got out of control. Conducting some technical analysis as shown in Fig. 3 we came to the following conclusion that there are three fire stations that are located near to the emergency spot, 1. Baldia town Fire Station 2. S.I.T.E Fire Station (M AqeelShaheed Fire Station) 3. Lyari Fire Station ( Miran Naka Fire Station)
Fig.3. Distance between Facility & Immediate Fire Stations
It’s clear that range of fire station for the factory was satisfactory,but the question then is why the fire tender were so late? Numerous reasons can be held responsible for this delay such as Traffic condition, Lack of Coordination between fire stations, emergency preparedness planning, and non-availability of resources. Below mentioned table shows the distance between the victimized factory and three different fire stations. Table 2: Distance between Facility & Immediate Fire Stations Fire Station Baldia Town Fire Station S.I.T.E Fire Station Lyari Fire Station
Facility Ali Enterprise Factory Ali Enterprise Factory Ali Enterprise Factory
Distance in KM 7 Km 3 Km 5 Km
4.3. Traffic Condition S.I.T.E town and Lyari town are the commercial hubs of Karachi.Trafficis quite congested in these areas which makeit difficult to provide immediate aid and response inan emergency circumstance.S.I.T.E Town is a densely populated urban area with many production units.Despite the fire station being close by affected building, S.I.T.E traffic congestion and road condition made it difficult for fire tenders to come at emergency spot on time Sher-shah is one of the most critical spotsdue to traffic and law &order conditionsfrom quite a long Lyari town is one of the most affected areas of Karachibecause of the recurringlaw &order scenario that heavily affects all sectors as well as traffic condition. Roads of Lyari town are congested and are not properly managed.Most of the major link roads are encroached and are also damaged due to no properdrainage system.
4.4. Lack of coordination between public services agencies Baldia town fire incident is the most terrible example of negligent management and poor disaster response scenario.There was no proper coordination between rescue agencies and recovery sector. No government officials werepresent resulting people aiding the victims on their own. Police, ambulance, fire tenders, medical aid and
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hospitalswere at the peak of confusion. There was no inter departmental coordination and astonishingly all sectors were depended on media news.
5. Significance to Urban Engineering Perspective Education is one of the mostdistinguished ways to deliver and impart the concept of disaster management and fire prevention. Educational institutions are a key player for imparting knowledge and introducing the importance of this subject in our society. Most of the stakeholders in our society don’t even know how to react and behave in case a disaster strikes. NED University is the only professional institute that gives the awareness under the discipline of Urban & Infrastructure Engineering. Urban Engineers have a great legacy to deal with the setting of disaster management as well as solving the problems of a highly urbanized society. Urban graduates are professional engineers possessing knowledge related to design, construction and maintenance of infrastructure, assets management, traffic engineering & disaster management. They possess skills that our civic agencies & Government/ Non- Government Organizations require. Under this Disciplinean Urban Engineer can cover the knowledge in Urban Hydrology, Municipal engineering, Advanced Technologies & Disaster Management; Environmental Impact Assessment; law & Regulatory Control Studies; Financial Resource Management; Maintenance Rehabilitation & Repair, Hydraulic Engineering and Water Resource Management.Thesevitalinformation and skills make urban engineers quite significant for the urban Society. In particular educational institutions, society, family and personal thinking are the key factors to understand the importance of disaster planning. We can derive an equation by combining all crucialdynamics to understand scenario of disaster planning. Effective disaster planning = effective education + effective society + effective family + effective personal thinking.
6. Conclusion & Recommendations Pakistan isprone to disaster at multiple levels.In Pakistan Disaster Management is in its early stage yet it still needs to be more independent and resilient in technical and new gadget expertise to be established as an efficient system. It is very important to carry out studies in a comprehensive way to identify the risk factor that involvesvulnerabilities and solutions to mitigate its impact. Here are some recommendations that could help in minimizing the effects. 6.1. Importance of Disaster Management x x x x x x x x
It’s the responsibility of industries to comply withthe Factory Act Rules, and formulate a disaster management plan to combat against catastrophesandreturn back to normal life. Arrange lectures, conference or seminars on a yearly basis about the importance of disaster management plan. Organize and create strong links with rescue authorities about the Hospitals involvement, ideal path, and open area evaluation at the most vulnerable spots Rolesshould be properly allocated among various agencies, organization, and individual for an effective response. Labor Law should be strictly implemented especially in the case of Child, Women and old age labor. Medical or first aid responseshould be prepared in case of an emergency. Design Disaster Management Plan with all its procedures. Helpline and rescue numbers should be provided and be visible in all quarters of the facility.
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6.2. Fire Fighting Recommendations x x x x x
Coordination should be created between all the firefighting teams Determination, of authorities and responsibilities between state and local administrations at execution of fire stations To prepare the training program and exam at first entrance, of fire fighting job, ranking and for top administration at international standard Fire prevention setup, international standard of hydrant in city Fire stations should be situated at suitable areasoverlooking the traffic congestion and areas of riskin the city.
6.3. Things can be done x x x
Urbanizations in an important issue that should be dealtat all levels.Education sector should be among these Importance of an Urban Engineer in society to provide solutions and to control the kind of accidentsthat occur in urbanized areas Creating more efficient plan to shun panic and perplexity in case of an emergency
Acknowledgements This paper is dedicated in the memory of all the victims of the Baldia town tragedy. The author would like to thank Prof. Dr. Mir Shabbar Ali, Chairman of Urban & Infrastructure Department, and NED University. The author would also like to thank Mr. SaboorShahid and Mr. Waqas Muhammad for their generous help and support for completing this paper. References [1] Zia ,Walsh D.,and Masood S., 2012 , Lax Regulations Blamed as Fires Kill Hundreds In Pakistan , A version of this article appears in print , on page A6 of the New York edition September 12, 2012 [2]Shook,G.,1997.An assessment of Disaster Risk and its Management in Thailand, Disasters, Volume 21, Issue 1, pages 77–88, March 1997,. [3] M. Shah Alam Khan, (2008) "Disaster preparedness for sustainable development in Bangladesh", Disaster Prevention and Management, Vol. 17 Issue: 5, pp.662 – 671 [4]Koichi Shiwaku, Rajib Shaw., 2007., Future perspective of school disaster education in Nepal, Disaster Prevention and Management, Vol. 16 Iss: 4, pp.576 - 587, Publisher Emerald Group Publishing Limited.
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