A technical committee of experts has declared 439 buildings of Karachi and other cities of Sindh as dilapidated and unsuitable for human habitation.
This was pointed out in a statement of the Sindh Building Control Authority (SBCA) on Friday. It said that the buildings are located in Karachi, Hyderabad, Sukkur, Larkana and Mirpurkhas region.
The Director General of SBCA, Noor Muhammad Leghari, has asked all the directors of buildings that process be initiated immediately to demolish the buildings declared dangerous by the technical committee consisting of experts and engineers.
Chairing a meeting of the officers of SBCA with regard to the buildings declared as dilapidated, he said that the immediate action be initiated as the human lives are very precious.
It was pointed out that with regard to such buildings the SBCA has repeatedly issued warning notices, announcement through loudspeakers and publicity drives. Some of such buildings have already been got vacated, it was further claimed.
The SBCA has also asked the people to help identify buildings that are in dilapidated condition.
Meanwhile, the residents of several high-rise buildings have said that they are confronted with the problems of seepage of faulty water supply lines within such premises which is affecting the structure of the buildings.
Neither the SCBA nor the residents’ association are paying due attention towards such a problem in spite of charging monthly amount in the name of maintenance charges.
They were also of the view that the officials concerned of the SCBA seem also shying away from their responsibilities in this regard.
The residents have appealed to the chief minister to address this very issue and direct SBCA to pay attention towards this problem, as well pay regular inspection visits to the high-rise buildings and help resolve the problems including that of the water seepage which is causing a lot of inconvenience to the residents besides affecting the structure of the high-rise buildings.