Margalla Towers
Collapse: A Preventable Disaster
By Omar Khan
London, UK
As a block of the Margalla
Towers collapsed in Saturday morning’s huge
earthquake, surviving residents and visitors shook
their heads in amazement and anger at what was
a preventable disaster.
It must first be pointed out that the spirit of
Ramadan, of sharing and generosity, has been focused
by this disaster into a beam of relief providing
desperately needed assistance to those left homeless,
hungry, injured and cold. Food and medical attention
have been volunteered en masse by neighbors and
strangers to alleviate the widespread suffering
following the greatest disaster faced by Pakistan.
It must also be pointed out, without detracting
at all from all those generous ones who have come
forward to help, that the government and the army
have absolved themselves from any responsibility
– both in terms of prevention and response
– through actions of those who have contributed
all they can of assistance, of whom the author
himself is one.
While being as generous as we can possibly be,
we must also be swift to account those responsible
for what has become one of the iconic images of
the disaster - that of the collapse of the south-east
tower of the Margalla Towers complex and the chaotic
hours that followed in which rescue efforts were
undertaken by bare handed passers-by and residents
for hours before any governmental assistance arrived.
The fact that only one of the towers of the complex
collapsed, while the neighboring Mustafa Towers
and various other tower blocks withstood the jolt
of the quake relatively intact, attracts immediate
concern.
The surviving receptionist from the main entrance
confirmed live on Geo TV that the block had been
plagued by serious cracks. Yet the owners undertook
no action to warn residents of the impending dangers
should an earthquake strike. Subsequent investigation
has revealed that the building in question, which
this author had visited many times, had been deemed
unsafe to live in 10 months ago.
As is the unfortunate case in Islamabad, corruption
erodes the effectiveness of the Capital Development
Authority in combating questionable building and
safety practices.
Following the collapse, immediate efforts were
undertaken by witnesses, survivors, passers-by,
even the traffic police. Notably absent were any
emergency rescue personnel, army personnel or
other personnel attached to any governmental agency.
As civilians clawed at concrete slabs with bare
hands, the CDA was appealing to private companies
through television channels to donate heavy equipment
such as cranes, as the CDA itself – oxymoronically,
had no such equipment available.
As cranes eventually arrived after some hours,
they encroached upon the delicate basement where
dozens of survivors were trapped. After scenes
of confrontation and chaos, the cranes were moved
back to a safe distance.
After hours of disheartening desperation the cavalry
finally arrived, with the President cum-general,
foot perched atop a slab of the wreckage of the
tower for a Kodak moment, making a pep-talk whilst
pestered by the irritable prime-minister who spoke
of the immediate activation of the ‘emergency
cell’ in the secretariat.
How is it possible that a government, responsible
for the protection of a population of over 150
million in one of the most active earthquake zones
in the world, is without an emergency response
plan? How can this be the case in the federal
capital, let alone the outer lying and inaccessible
areas?
The answer is because the society accepts it and
gets on to solve the dilemmas facing it itself,
irrespective of the certain inadequacy of individual
responses to a massive earthquake.
As long as the society remains indifferent to
the government’s indifference, the regime
will operate with impunity and disregard of those
who don’t have the courage to account her.
That is the essence of tyranny and the license
of dictatorship.
The Caliphate is a system built upon accountability,
before the Sharia and to the people to whom there
exists a duty of responsibility. (The author is
a risk analyst and a PhD student based in London.
He hails from the NWFP in Pakistan)
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