Dilapidated Buildings, Innocent Lives: Who Is Responsible?

By Amir Muhammad Khan

The collapse of school buildings, residential structures, and other unsafe buildings in Pakistan is not merely a series of tragic accidents. It raises serious questions about construction standards, regulatory oversight, safety inspections, corruption, and the accountability of those entrusted with protecting human lives.

Are the authorities responsible for inspecting buildings and issuing safety certificates performing their duties? Repeated tragedies suggest serious failures in the system.

The recent Peshawar school tragedy, in which 35 children were reportedly killed, has once again exposed these shortcomings. The building was reportedly registered in 2026, yet questions have emerged about the technical capacity of the provincial Private Schools Regulatory Authority, including whether it had qualified civil engineers to assess structural safety. Following the tragedy, the government directed the authorities to introduce structural fitness assessments, regular inspections, fitness certificates, and an effective monitoring system.

But why do we wake up only after innocent lives have been lost? And why does this awakening last only a few days?

Even after such a devastating incident, political debates and the issue of Adiala appear to dominate much of the national conversation. Meanwhile, grieving parents bury their children, television audiences watch their tears, and government representatives offer financial compensation.

A few hundred thousand rupees may provide temporary assistance to a bereaved family, but can money ever compensate parents for the loss of a child? Worse still, the compensation comes from taxpayers’ money—not from the personal fortunes of an elite that often owns property worth billions.

Would those distributing such compensation consider the same amount adequate if their own children had died in a similar tragedy?

Human life is priceless. Compensation cannot replace justice, and condolences cannot substitute for accountability.

Pakistan has formed countless inquiry committees following disasters, yet the outcomes have too often failed to satisfy the public. Investigations are announced, officials issue statements, and public attention eventually moves elsewhere. The real test is whether those responsible are identified, prosecuted, and punished in accordance with the law.

A cynical saying captures the public perception of our system: “If you are caught taking a bribe, pay another bribe to get released.” Whether or not it describes every case, it reflects the deep distrust created by corruption and weak accountability.

The school owner’s reported claim that the building was new and its collapse was a natural disaster raises further questions. If the structure was safe, who certified its structural fitness? Which qualified engineer inspected it? If it was unsafe, how was it permitted to operate as a school? And if a monitoring system existed, why were the structural weaknesses not identified before the tragedy?

Did any official or institution issue a registration, approval, or fitness certificate without complying with the relevant regulations?

These questions must be answered through independent technical investigations, not merely statements from the same departments whose performance may be under scrutiny.

Nor is the problem confined to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. A reported 2026 survey by the Capital Development Authority (CDA) in Islamabad examined 6,500 buildings and highlighted widespread shortcomings relating to Fire Safety Plans and completion or fire safety certificates. The critical question is whether buildings found to be unsafe were inspected again, ordered to make improvements, or evacuated where necessary.

Reports from 2026 have also referred to at least 32 roof-collapse incidents across Pakistan, resulting in more than 100 deaths. These figures, which require verification against official nationwide records, point to the urgency of a systematic approach to building safety.

When authorities fail to act on dangerous conditions, their negligence can have fatal consequences. If a building collapses after warning signs have been ignored, responsibility must extend beyond the owner to any officials whose failure to perform their legal duties contributed to the disaster.

The causes of building collapses are familiar: substandard construction materials, weak structural designs, poorly built roofs, unauthorised additional floors, excessive loads on rooftops, inadequate maintenance, water damage, and illegal extensions. Equally serious is the failure to act on complaints about cracks, leaking roofs, or other visible signs of structural weakness.

These are not always unforeseeable disasters. Many risks can be identified through qualified inspections, proper maintenance, and enforcement of building regulations.

In Lahore’s Kahna incident, the FIR reportedly referred to the building’s dilapidated condition and the additional load placed on its roof. Following the Peshawar tragedy, investigations were also initiated into possible construction defects and structural weaknesses.

But a fundamental concern remains: can the public have confidence in an investigation if the officials or departments responsible for approving a building are also involved in examining what went wrong? Major incidents require independent technical inquiries capable of examining the roles of property owners, contractors, engineers, approving authorities, and officials responsible for safety certification.

The Soldier Bazaar tragedy in Karachi on February 19, 2026, reportedly involving a gas explosion in a building, raises similar concerns. The owner’s reported arrest is only one part of the matter. Investigators must also establish whether building-control officials fulfilled their responsibilities, whether fire safety arrangements were adequate, and whether emergency exits were accessible.

Where were the firefighting arrangements? Were emergency exits blocked? Were the building’s safety requirements properly enforced?

These questions deserve answers regardless of which political party governs the province. The performance of regulatory authorities must be assessed on evidence, and any official found culpable must face the appropriate legal and departmental consequences.

Following the Peshawar tragedy, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Elementary and Secondary Education Department ordered safety audits of government school buildings. Instructions included stopping classes in unsafe buildings, relocating students to secure locations, and obtaining fitness certificates from authorised technical institutions after repairs.

Such measures are necessary, but they must not remain temporary reactions to public outrage. Safety inspections must continue long after the headlines disappear.

In my view, the government must immediately implement a nationwide building-safety programme with the following priorities:

First, conduct district-level inspections. Schools, tuition centres, and potentially dangerous residential buildings should be assessed by qualified engineers and other authorised technical personnel.

Second, classify buildings according to risk. Buildings should be declared safe, in need of repairs, or dangerous enough to require immediate evacuation. Structures presenting an imminent threat must not remain occupied simply because their owners have influence.

Third, publish the findings. Publicly accessible records of unsafe buildings, required corrective measures, and compliance deadlines would help citizens understand the risks and hold authorities accountable.

Fourth, investigate independently. Every major collapse should be examined by technically competent investigators who can determine whether negligence, illegal construction, substandard materials, or regulatory failures contributed to the disaster.

Fifth, ensure meaningful accountability. Arrests and suspensions are not sufficient on their own. Criminal proceedings, departmental decisions, and final judicial outcomes should be made transparent, subject to the law.

Finally, protect children from unsafe educational environments. Low-income families must have access to affordable, safe schools so that poverty does not force children to study in dangerous buildings.

The tragedy of Peshawar must serve as a turning point, not another forgotten headline. The same applies to incidents in Lahore, Karachi, Islamabad, and every other part of the country.

A child’s life cannot be valued in a few hundred thousand rupees. Bereaved families deserve justice, and citizens deserve the assurance that schools, homes, and public buildings will not become death traps because of corruption, negligence, or official indifference.

The real question is not simply why buildings collapse. It is why warning signs are ignored, why those responsible escape accountability, and why governments act only after innocent lives have been lost.

Until Pakistan replaces temporary promises with continuous inspections, strict enforcement, independent investigations, and lawful punishment for proven negligence, the cycle of tragedy and official inaction will continue.

Who is responsible? The answer must come not from another inquiry committee or press conference, but from transparent investigations, court proceedings, and accountability that delivers justice.