Preventing collapses: After the monsoons, old city buildings under scrutiny
Electricity poles and billboards also being checked across the city.
KARACHI:
A year ago, the Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) delivered an ominous message to the Sindh Building Control Authority (SBCA) and the district coordination officer (DCO), Karachi, about the dangers of building collapses.
The warnings went unheeded, however, and Karachi had to cope with the collapse of a building in Moosa Lane, Lyari, that left 27 people dead.
It is not only the buildings in the Old City areas that are rickety, those in the centre of the city, especially Jamshed Town and Gulistan-e-Jauhar, have also seen too many winters and rainfalls, explained PDMA Operations Assistant Director Jamil Asif. Gulistan-e-Jahaur’s large-scale residential buildings are in danger of being shaken down by earthquakes, which have hit the area in the past.
The assistant director was quick to distance his organisation from the problem. He claimed that, given that the PDMA has been under an internal restructuring and reorganisation phase for last two years, it could not work as efficiently as it would have liked. However, he said that the disaster authority had been in contact with stakeholders and have discussed the risks for certain buildings.
So far, with the help of a non-governmental organisation, they have identified one building in Lyari and another in Gulistan-e-Jauhar to assess possible changes that would strengthen its support structure.
“As soon as the assessment is completed, other dangerous buildings, especially those on the faultline would be given a replica of the assessed buildings,” said Asif.
The city also puts the burden of making decisions about demolition and other measures on the SBCA. Its spokesman told The Express Tribune that the authority has yet to decide on setting up technical support for the dangerous buildings or demolishing them.
Other shaky structures
The city has earmarked Rs20 million for the repair and maintenance of weakened electric poles after they estimated that about 70 per cent of them have been damaged.
The foundations and base structures of these heavy poles are waterlogged and dangerously weakened. The City District Government Karachi’s Works and Services Department Executive District Officer, Altaf G Memon, told The Express Tribune that a team of engineers has been put together to survey these poles and file a report due on Saturday.
They are ready to start work within 15 days. The pylons on Sharae Faisal were installed by the Karachi Electric Supply Company (KESC) in 1972 and have not been repaired since. The contractors are due to be assigned on Monday.
Apart from this, the department has also put together a Rs60 million plan for new installations and poles. They also hope to convert some of them to solar-powered poles and hope that their proposal for this will be approved soon.
Meanwhile, billboards that line the roads are also badly damaged and many of them have been temporarily mended by welding makeshift iron rods to the pillars.
Published in The Express Tribune, September 17th, 2011.
A year ago, the Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) delivered an ominous message to the Sindh Building Control Authority (SBCA) and the district coordination officer (DCO), Karachi, about the dangers of building collapses.
The warnings went unheeded, however, and Karachi had to cope with the collapse of a building in Moosa Lane, Lyari, that left 27 people dead.
It is not only the buildings in the Old City areas that are rickety, those in the centre of the city, especially Jamshed Town and Gulistan-e-Jauhar, have also seen too many winters and rainfalls, explained PDMA Operations Assistant Director Jamil Asif. Gulistan-e-Jahaur’s large-scale residential buildings are in danger of being shaken down by earthquakes, which have hit the area in the past.
The assistant director was quick to distance his organisation from the problem. He claimed that, given that the PDMA has been under an internal restructuring and reorganisation phase for last two years, it could not work as efficiently as it would have liked. However, he said that the disaster authority had been in contact with stakeholders and have discussed the risks for certain buildings.
So far, with the help of a non-governmental organisation, they have identified one building in Lyari and another in Gulistan-e-Jauhar to assess possible changes that would strengthen its support structure.
“As soon as the assessment is completed, other dangerous buildings, especially those on the faultline would be given a replica of the assessed buildings,” said Asif.
The city also puts the burden of making decisions about demolition and other measures on the SBCA. Its spokesman told The Express Tribune that the authority has yet to decide on setting up technical support for the dangerous buildings or demolishing them.
Other shaky structures
The city has earmarked Rs20 million for the repair and maintenance of weakened electric poles after they estimated that about 70 per cent of them have been damaged.
The foundations and base structures of these heavy poles are waterlogged and dangerously weakened. The City District Government Karachi’s Works and Services Department Executive District Officer, Altaf G Memon, told The Express Tribune that a team of engineers has been put together to survey these poles and file a report due on Saturday.
They are ready to start work within 15 days. The pylons on Sharae Faisal were installed by the Karachi Electric Supply Company (KESC) in 1972 and have not been repaired since. The contractors are due to be assigned on Monday.
Apart from this, the department has also put together a Rs60 million plan for new installations and poles. They also hope to convert some of them to solar-powered poles and hope that their proposal for this will be approved soon.
Meanwhile, billboards that line the roads are also badly damaged and many of them have been temporarily mended by welding makeshift iron rods to the pillars.
Published in The Express Tribune, September 17th, 2011.