SHC stays construction of high-rise next to Frere Hall

Petitioner says multistorey buildings can't be built within a radius of 200 feet of UNESCO World Heritage site

KARACHI:

The Sindh High Court (SHC) on Thursday stayed the construction of a 20-storey apartment building while hearing a petition against building high-rises adjacent to the British colonial-era Frere Hall heritage site.

Appearing before a two-member SHC bench, headed by Justice Aqeel Ahmad Abbasi, the petitioner's counsel Faisal Siddiqui Advocate submitted that the iconic Frere Hall is on the UNESCO World Heritage list.

A multi-storey building cannot be constructed within a radius of 200 feet of the Frere Hall, he submitted. However, a 20-storey building is being constructed on Plot No. 6/1 CL-6 next to the Frere Hall.

He claimed that the Sindh Building Control Authority (SBCA) has issued an illegal NOC for construction on the plot measuring 3,165 square yards. He submitted that the go-ahead from the Heritage Committee and the Sindh Department of Environment was necessary before the SBCA approval.

After hearing the arguments, the bench stayed the construction and summoned the approval records at the next hearing. Meanwhile, another SHC bench ordered the deputy commissioner for District West to remove all encroachments on the property of a school in Orangi Town.

The two-member bench, led by Justice Aqeel Ahmed Abbasi, issued the orders while hearing a petition against the alleged illegal possession of 100,000 square yards of the school land.

The bench also ordered the director of Katchi Abadis (slums) in Sindh to personally appear before the court with the requested documents. The petitioner's counsel, Usman Farooq Advocate, submitted before the bench that the government land was being occupied.

The Karachi Municipal Corporation (KMC) has received a proposal from the Indus Hospital to set up a hospital and a college on the piece of land in question, he added. The Indus Hospital is a reputable medical institution. Thousands of square yards of land meant for three schools has been occupied and the land grabbers mafia has started construction there in defiance of an injunction granted by a two-judge SHC bench.

The SHC bench ordered the deputy commissioner for District West to remove all encroachments from the property and directed the director of Katchi Abadis in Sindh to personally appear in the court with the required paperwork.