Death-traps

The state's dereliction of duty is costing innocent lives. The collapse of a five-storey residential building in Karachi's Lyari neighbourhood, which has so far claimed at least 27 lives, is the predictable outcome of a system that no longer functions to protect its people. For over a year, the Sindh Building Control Authority (SBCA) had declared the structure unsafe and issued four evacuation notices. Yet residents remained inside, utilities stayed connected, and no serious attempt was made to enforce the orders or offer relocation.

This failure is part of a larger, more dangerous trend. Karachi is teeming with illegal constructions - many of them towering above what is legally permissible - built through backdoor approvals and palm-greased inspectors. Authorities like the SBCA routinely shrug off responsibility, blaming residents, other departments or "lack of cooperation" while continuing to approve dubious projects or turn a blind eye to violations. If this is not complicity, it is at best cowardice. Following public outrage, the Sindh government suspended the SBCA Director General. But scapegoating a single official is not reform. Over 588 unsafe buildings have already been identified in the city. How many more must collapse before Karachi's institutions stop hiding behind bureaucracy and start saving lives?

Fixing this crisis does not demand notices and suspensions. It requires the prosecution of all those complicit - regardless of rank or political affiliation - and the modernisation of building laws. There must be serious commitment to public housing so that residents are not forced to live in death traps. Every crumbling wall and buried body is a testament to a state that refuses to act. Until that changes, Karachi's skyline will remain a monument of neglect.