Another poisonous gas leakage

It was the second such incident in Karachi within a span of just two weeks. On Friday, 70 people working in a chemical factory landed in hospital with breathing difficulties and burning sensation in the eyes caused by inhaling a poisonous gas. Fear and panic gripped the area as only a few days earlier a mysterious gas leakage in the Karachi Port Trust area had left 14 people dead and hundreds of others hospitalized. So far no one has been held to account for that disaster nor its source named. In the present case, although the police later said that chlorine had leaked from one of the factory pipes, nobody bothered to inform the rescuers of the identity of the culprit in a timely fashion. The rescue services are reported to have complained that they were not notified about the type of the leaked gas so they could provide necessary protective gear to their ambulance staff who were to shift the affected persons to medical facilities.

These are not the first incidents wherein so many lives have come to harm. Nine years ago, a horrific fire in a Baldia Town factory claimed 250 lives. Still, 'small' incidents kept happening every now and then, reflecting blatant disregard for the well-being of ordinary people. Unfortunately, however, the concept of industrial social responsibility largely remains an alien concept in this country. True, some of the progressive concerns abide by the safety rules. The export-oriented industries also maintain safety and hygiene standards mostly due to foreign buyers' conditions. But the general standards range from inadequate to deplorable. In the event of a debacle, the tendency on the part of the relevant authorities is to book a case against the proprietors - to be forgotten in due course. And so it goes on and on. Such tragedies would rarely happen if those whose responsibility it is to ensure implementation of the safety rules did not turn a blind eye to missing measures in exchange for personal gains. Field staff of the provincial directorate of labour welfare who carry out inspections of commercial establishments are equally culpable and hence need to be held to account in all such cases.

It is worth recalling that after the Baldia Town tragedy, the Sindh Labour Department, Employers Federation of Pakistan, and Pakistan Workers Federation signed an agreement to ensure compliance with international labour standards regarding workplace safety and workers health. Later, they also developed a joint action plan with the support of the International Labour Organization. Yet as the various ensuing incidents show, expression of good intentions were not followed up with good action. It is high time the provincial authorities in Sindh as well as in other provinces effectively implemented safety rules in all industrial concerns. As regards the present incident, the Sindh government has suspended operations of the industrial unit involved in the gas leakage, and constituted a committee to conduct a thorough probe into its safety and environmental standards. It is hoped that the move is not meant merely to buy time so as to assuage public concern for now. Its findings must be freely available.