-government has recently made regulations to prevent human, property losses; however, BCS section of CDA continues to issue NOCs in blatant violation of regulations
ISLAMABAD: The city managers of the federal capital are issuing a no objection certificate (NOC) to commercial buildings in violation of Islamabad Fire Prevention and Life Safety Regulation 2010, Pakistan Today has learnt.
According to the act, such measures are necessary in compliance with the Capital Development Authority (CDA) building standards for fire prevention and life safety.
In case of constructions of new buildings, a clearance with regards to fire prevention and life safety measures would be required from the CDA’s Directorate of Emergency and Disaster Management at the time of approval of building plan, as well as the time of issuance of completion certificate by the authority.
According to the source in the Building Control Section (BCS), an NOC issued to a multi-story building of Meezan Bank in Blue Area is in a violation of the fire safety act.
When contacted, Major (r) Wasif, who deals with the building section of the Meezan Bank in Blue Area, confirmed that the NOC of the building has been obtained from CDA.
However, when asked how it was obtained without fulfilling the requirements of the Directorate of Emergency and Disaster Management as the NOC is illegal according to the law, he denied obtaining the NOC and altered his earlier statement saying that the NOC is under process.
It is pertinent to mention here that proof of his original statement is available with this scribe in which he accepted the issuance of NOC.
On inquiring about how the section awarded NOCs to commercial buildings in federal capital having no safety cover, a responsible source in BCS said that a large number of buildings in the capital do not have any fire prevention mechanism and although the government has recently made regulations to prevent human and property losses in the future, the BCS section continues to issue NOCs in blatant violation of the regulations.
“Private individuals having a company of the safety of buildings which isn’t registered with the Pakistan Engineering Council (PEC) attended meetings in the BCS illegally. How you can allow an illegal company and its owner to participate in government meetings regarding building safety measures despite having a functional directorate?” the source said.
“We have brought up this issue with the high of ups of the section repeatedly, explaining how owners of commercial buildings obtained NOCs through the backdoor while not fulfilling the legal requirements but no one acknowledges the matter,” he added.
Multiple attempts to contact BCS Director Faisal Naeem were made but he did not respond either.