Karachi: The federal infrastructure firm that Sindh Chief Minister, Syed Murad Ali Shah, had berated for assuming the role of the infamous East India Company has come to the rescue of Bilawal House in Karachi, which is the palatial residence of the top leadership of Pakistan Peoples’ Party.
One of the 50 state-of-the-art fire engines purchased by the federal government for Karachi was used to extinguish the fire at Media Cell of Bilawal House on Friday afternoon. The fire lasted for over an hour.
The federally owned Sindh Infrastructure Development Company Ltd (SIDCL) purchased these new fire engines for Karachi earlier this year. In his last press conference, Sindh Chief Minister, Syed Murad Ali Shah, complained that the SIDCL had assumed the role of the East India Company in his province.
The fire caused widespread property damage at the Media Cell. Luckily, no one was hurt in the incident.
Shah had complained the SIDCL was being remotely used by the federal government to carry out development work in the province without consulting the Sindh government.
He said the presence of any “East India Company” was not tolerable in the province.
Sindh Governor Imran Ismail, talking to media persons after Friday’s incident, said the Sindh government should now realise that the same fire engines were pressed into service to extinguish the fire, which had been purchased by the SIDCL, which he had branded the “East India Company”.
“One should ask Karachi’s Fire Department ... prior to the support from the SIDCL the city had only 14 fire engines which were in very bad condition,” he said.
He said that after the purchase of these state-of-the-art fire engines by the SIDCL, everyone in Karachi was safe be it a house owner, industrialist, or shopkeeper. “These fire engines are present now everywhere in Karachi,” he said.
“Now even the Bilawal House in Karachi bears the testament to the best performance of this ‘East India Company’,” the Governor added.
