Authorities fail to evacuate dilapidated buildings

Two to three-storey structures dating back to pre-Partition period pose serious risk to residents

RAWALPINDI:

The Rawalpindi Metropolitan Corporation, Cantonment boards, the Auqaf department and the district council have failed to evacuate the 252 highrises old, dilapidated and perishable residential buildings, commercial warehouses and shops which were declared dangerous by the building control authority before the start of the monsoon season.

Earlier, five civic agencies had issued red notices to owners to vacate these buildings before the start of the monsoon, but not a single owner or tenant has vacated the building, risking an accident or a mishap during the monsoon.

Most of the dilapidated buildings are located in Shah Chan Chiragh, Lunda Bazaar, Chatian Hatian, Ghazni Road, Bagh Sardar, Moti Bazaar, Raja Bazaar, Trunk Bazaar, Mohanpura, Kartarpura, New Mohalla, College Road, Lal Haveli and its surroundings market, Usmanpura, Gawalmandi, Ganjmandi, Hamilton Road, Dangi Khoi, Junglat Road, Tinch Bhatta, Mughal Inn, Bhabhra Bazaar, Bohar Bazaar and Mochi Bazaar.

All of these buildings are two to three storeys high. On average, six family members live in each of these residential buildings. Due to low rents, the residents do not vacate the structures by risking their lives. Most of the roofs of these buildings drip during the rains and wide cracks have developed in the walls. Most of these structures are owned by the Auqaf department.

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Officials in the civic agencies said that a large number of residents have obtained stay orders from the courts following they were issued notices.

They said that their hands were cuffed after the courts issue stay orders and they no longer could force the residents to vacate the buildings, most of them have been declared dangerous.

Fayyaz Ali, a resident of a multi-storey building in Bohar Bazaar, said that his family has been living there for the last 60 years. He said that "If the Auqaf department allows us to repair the buildings on our own, we will get the broken building repaired immediately. If the building is vacated anyway, the Auqaf department will not allow us this house again. Being a middle-class family, where will we go?"

Haji Ghulam Mohammad, another tenant, said that the government should provide easy loans to the owners of all the dilapidated buildings so that they could rebuild or repair them.

Anjuman-e-Tajiran Sabzi Mandi President Ghulam Qadir Mir that the civic agencies issue notices in every monsoon season just to complete the codal formality.