ISLAMABAD: Capital’s foremost civic agency has failed to implement building by-laws in the federal capital. As many as 98 percent commercial buildings are functioning without obtaining completion certificates.
The buildings are standing threats to civilian lives and may lead to untoward incidents like Evacuee Trust fire eruption which resulted in a loss of two lives just because it lacked an emergency exit and equipments.
According to the building by-laws of Capital Development Authority (CDA), every building has to get a completion certificate after the completion of construction and before starting any activity, but unfortunately, only one building in Blue Area has obtained it. Rest of the buildings, constructed and functional decades ago, still remain without the certificate.
While talking to Pakistan Today, Building Control Section [I] (BCS) Director, Faisal Naeem said that the authority has now started serious efforts and is mulling to take physical actions against the buildings.
“More than 95 percent buildings in all marakiz of D, E, F, G, H, and I series (including government offices/buildings) are operational without obtaining the completion certificate. In past, the authority did not pay heed to it, but now, on the directions of incumbent management, BCS (I) is working on it. I ordered the staff to do a fresh survey so the exact figures of the commercial buildings operational without completion certificate come to the fore and so the violators/building owners face the music,” he said.
The operation against non-confirming use also lost its steam as, according to the documents available with Pakistan Today, only 38 houses have been sealed during the last six months – three of which have also been de-sealed.
Five houses in sector F-6, three in F-8, one in F-10, eight in sector G-6, one in G-8, one in G-10, one in G-11, four in I-8, eight in Model Town Humak Zimini, and six in Model Town Humak had been sealed during July-December 2017.
On the directions of Supreme Court last year, the CDA started a drive to remove commercial activities from residential areas. After an enthusiastic start last year, the operation has now lost its pace, with nearly 30pc of commercial outlets still operating in residential areas.
The BCS of CDA achieved its initial goals in the first few months, successfully managing to end non-confirming use of around 1100 out of a total 1695 residential buildings located in different sectors, either by force or voluntarily.
An official of BCS, while requesting not to be named said that the commercial building owners commit various violations in the layout plan and then sell the property to unsuspecting individuals, who face trouble if they want to re-sale or transfer it at a later stage.
Since 1960, more than a couple of hundred commercial plazas have been constructed in Islamabad and it is alarming that most of them violated the building by-laws and no-authority ever bothered to check them and issue a notice or take action.
It is also noted that the city administration is paying no heed to the warning of the Emergency and Disaster Management Directorate (E&DM) of the CDA.
In December last year, the E&DM Directorate marked 257 commercial and 148 industrial buildings as dangerous and not emergency ready.
The civic agency of Islamabad warned the building owners several times and informed that if the necessary action would not be taken by the owners then CDA reserves the right and power to put penalties on all such buildings.
Currently, the authority is just passing the buck to each other and the officials are concerned with the issuance of notices which are not being taken seriously by the concerned parties.
Islamabad Mayor and CDA Chief, Sheikh Anser Aziz was contacted but he was not available for the comment.
