No utility connections to illegal buildings, court orders
A file photo of the Sindh High Court building.
The Sindh High Court has ordered the chief executives of the utilities to give in writing that electricity, water and gas connections will not be given to the illegally constructed buildings.
A two-member bench, headed by Justice Nadeem Akhtar, heard the petition filed against providing electricity, water and gas connections to illegally constructed buildings.
Karachi Water and Sewerage Corporation CEO Engineer Salahuddin Ahmed said that no water connection will be given to any illegally constructed buildings in the future.
Barrister Abid Zuberi, counsel for the KElectric, submitted that temporary connections for one year are given at the time of construction of houses. However, in slum areas, people raise unauthorised buildings and keep using these temporary connections as permanent ones.
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The counsel further told the court that when K-E teams enter these densely populated localities, to cut the illegal connections, they face resistance and are attacked by the area people.
The K-E counsel assured the court that henceforth no connection will be given to any client unless an approved building plan is presented.Justice Nadeem Akhtar remarked that the court order should be fully and immediately implemented. The court ordered the CEOs of Sui Southern Gas Company, KWSC and KE to submit written statements that they would not approve connections to illegally constructed buildings.
The court also ordered that in future no connection should be given to any building without an approved building plan. SBCA's lawyer stated that a case has been registered against the builder who constructed a nine-storey building illegally in Agra Taj Colony.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 23rd, 2023.