Precautionary measures: Demolition of Amina Tahir Manzil begins

The rescue operation for the collapsed Lyari building ended on Monday night.

KARACHI: The Sindh Building Control Authority (SBCA) said it has started to demolish Amina Tahir Building, which is located next to Qasr-e Ruqayya building that collapsed on August 4 in Lyari’s Moosa Lane.

The City District Government Karachi (CDGK) Municipal Services executive district officer, Masood Alam, told The Express Tribune that the rescue operation ended at 12 am on Monday night and by that time 34 bodies were recovered.

Alam has written to the SBCA’s chief controller, Kaka Manzoor Qadir, but he is not in city at present. Alam explained that the buildings have been declared dangerous by the SBCA’s technical committee and it is their responsibility to take immediate action.

Lyari’s Town Building Control Officer Aqeel Abidi told The Express Tribune that the SBCA has completed its survey on the condition of the two building adjacent to the ill-fated Qasr-e Ruqayya.

Iqbal Mansion which is to the left is not irrepairable and with some work can be declared safe.

However, Amina Tahir Manzil which is on the right is in dangerous condition and the SBCA’s demolition squad began work on it Monday night.

The building control officer said that the lives of the demolition squad personnel are in danger because they are working by hand. They don’t have the kind of equipment that staff use in developed countries.

The demolition could be done in three days but public interference is making it difficult. “It will take three to four weeks,” said the building control officer.

The collapsed building would be reconstructed on the same plot. Karachi District Coordination Officer Muhammad Hussein Syed has announced three million rupees for the construction. Currently, the evacuees are still in Patni Hall and Shah Abdul Lateef Bhittai Hall.

Demolition teams also razed illegal constructions in Karachi on Tuesday. The teams went to work in Block-3 of Gulshan-e-Iqbal and Bahadur Yar Jung CHS and Garden East.

With additional input from PPI

Published in The Express Tribune, August 10^th, 2011.