Over 500 commercial buildings in the city and cantonment areas do not employ fire safety measures. According to information from the civil defence department, most buildings and commercial areas around Raja Bazaar, Saddar and other heavily populated areas are not equipped with adequate fire safety measures. The local administration has also failed to launch any action to improve on this despite the presence of the Town Municipal Administration and the Rawalpindi and Chaklala cantonment boards, which are responsible for implementing fire safety measures.
According to building bylaws applicable to the city and cantonment areas, essential safety measures are required in commercial, industrial and public buildings, to ensure the safety of their occupants in the event of a fire or an emergency. Layout plans for commercial buildings must have exit doors, fire hydrants, fire isolated stairways, emergency elevators, a mechanical ventilation and sprinkler system, smoke alarms a safety management system and a fire control centre.
Many high rise and commercial buildings, however, have flouted these regulations.
In some areas, over 200 illegal factories in the downtown area have not installed fire safety measures. These factories are located in densely populated areas like Raja Bazaar, Khayaban-i-Sir Syed, Bangash Colony, Dhoke Dalal, Dhoke Ratta, College Road, Sadiqabad, Glass Factory, Pirwadhai, Asghar Mall and Bagh Sardarn.
