Weak foundation: Two men wounded as building collapses in Saddar

Gas explosion caused the collapse as structure was built over nullah

KARACHI: A juice vendor and a watchman were injured when a portion of Mobile Street Mall in Saddar collapsed with a loud explosion on Wednesday morning.

The single-storey mall, which is located on a street connecting Abdullah Haroon Road with Zaibunnisa Street  is built over a nullah. It had around 150 shops and godowns but all of them were closed when the explosion occurred at 9am.

Only the front side of the market collapsed and caused damages to nearly 49 shops. The hundreds of people who usually throng the market at later hours of the morning were saved and the two injured men also survived with minor injuries.



"It was a really loud explosion," said the 60-year-old watchman, Fazal Shah, who was rescued by volunteers. "I thought a huge bomb blast had taken place but then it felt like an earthquake." It was not until much later that Shah realised that a gas explosion caused the damage.

"The building collapsed after gas filled the nullah," said District South assistant commissioner Sajjad Abro. "There used to be proper ventilation before but, since the market was established, the vents were covered," he pointed out, adding that investigations have started into the strength of the building's foundation. According to Abro, the leases of all buildings built over nullahs have already been cancelled.

The Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) and South district municipal corporation sent their heavy machines to lift the debris while volunteers kept an eye out for any injured men. "So far, there is no one trapped in the debris but we cannot leave the spot until the debris is removed completely because it can collapse again," said a volunteer, Naveed Ansari.

Meanwhile, traffic from Regal Chowk was suspended as the main road was damaged in the explosion. "There should be an inquiry into this collapse," said Preedy SHO Kamal Naseem, who claimed the market already has a stay order from the Sindh High Court. The police will register a case if negligence is found, he added.

According to Electronic Market Association representative Saeed Shah, this market was established in 1996. "We were against the construction but the mafia, which had some influential government officials, succeeded in their mission to build the market," he claimed, refusing to share the names of those involved.



Shah explained that the building had multiple owners and many of the shops were either rented or under 'pagri' contract. "All of us knew that one day this will happen," said Saeed.

Lacking compassion

As the traders mourned the damages to their shops, some men took advantage of the shopkeepers' loss. A small crowd of men gathered outside the damaged shops and stole mobile phones and their accessories. "I lost millions of rupees," claimed a shopkeeper, Tariq Shah, who was running his shop since 2007. "The people here have no care for anyone. Here I am crying and worrying about my future and people are trying to loot cellphones."

'Faulty' plans

There are hundreds of buildings built over nullahs, said KMC municipal services senior director Masood Alam. He gave the examples of Urdu Bazaar, Sindh Secretariat, Sindh Assembly and Lunda Bazaar. However, these buildings have ventilation for gases that develop inside the nullah, he pointed out.

It is possible that a gas pipeline underneath the building may have exploded since the aftermath does not seem like that of a nullah explosion, said Sindh Building Control Authority (SBCA) official Farhan Qaiser.

The SBCA approved its alteration in 2005, said Qaiser, adding that they are looking into claims of negligence in building planning. If negligence is found, necessary action will be taken against the building owners and the licensed architectural engineer.

Meanwhile, NED University's architecture and planning department chairperson Dr Noman Ahmed told The Express Tribune there are different kinds of organic gases in sewerage lines, which cause these blasts in the pipelines. "To prevent such incidents, vent pipes are made for ventilation," he said. "It is a scientific process. If organic gases are packed inside, friction will cause them to burst."

Published in The Express Tribune, August 4^th, 2016.