The recent fire in Karachi's Gul Plaza should not have surprised anyone. It is reported that the city had 2,400 fires in 2025. Most of these would never have happened in we had honest government officers. The incredible corruption of Sindh Government is well-known. I estimate that more than half of its revenue is siphoned off to foreign bank accounts belonging to the rural areas.
The Gul Plaza fire would never have happened if the officials warming their chairs had visited the place even once to check if fire safety measures were being followed. The plaza was originally built for a thousand shops, but two hundred shops were added without permission. If the Sindh Building Control people had prevented the additional construction, perhaps those trapped in the plaza could have managed to escape.
If more proof of their corruption is required, just consider that initially about thirty people were reported missing. When the government announced that it would pay ten million rupees to the kin of the deceased, the number of missing persons jumped to 85! One can easily guess what happened. Some people in the rural areas (in collusion with their friends in the government) will claim the ten million, declaring that their relatives died in the blaze. It's another matter that they will never be able to prove that their relatives were in the city, but that won't matter. Half of the ten million will be pocketed by their friends and relatives in the government, and they will be richer by five million. Of course, those unfortunate ones whose near and dear ones were among the victims will get the compensation money after many months, if ever. In fact, even they will have to pay half of it to the corrupt officials.
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