Listen to the buildings

Buildings speak - not with words, but through the cracks that snake across their walls, ceilings, slabs and beams. They speak through peeling plaster, blistered paint, rusted pipelines and termite-eaten wooden doors that groan with age. Every creak in an old building is a warning; every ignored warning is a ticking clock. As Pakistan approaches its centennial, many structures - some dating back to the pre-partition period - stand in plain sight, slowly collapsing. Despite repeated eviction notices and clear evidence of danger, residents remain, bound by necessity or unwillingness to leave. With each passing day, another crack forms, another brick loosens, and the next tragedy draws closer.

In July, a five-storey building already deemed unsafe, collapsed in a cloud of dust, killing 27 people, including women and children, and leaving nearly 50 families displaced in Karachi. The rescue operation later revealed the grim reality: no enforcement, no relocation - just bureaucratic apathy. Government bodies had issued evacuation notices since 2023, the latest in June 2025 - yet residents continued living in deadly proximity.

Days earlier, another structure collapsed in Karachi, killing at least six people, highlighting that these tragedies are far from isolated. In February 2024, a decrepit structure in Lahore's Hanjarwal area - a building riddled with disrepair - crashed down during renovation. Rescue teams arrived swiftly, but the tragedy had already unfolded beneath crumbling bricks and brittle ceilings. A 65-year-old block a hospital collapsed while being renovated. Though thankfully empty, the event exposed how fragile our aging health infrastructure has become. A factory collapse killed 45 workers and left over 100 injured - yet the lesson remains unheeded.

Such ancient, unreinforced buildings are now spread across the country, inhabited, rented, abandoned or deserted, waiting for an accident to happen. The solution lies more in the will than anything else. Priorities must change, and the performance of departments must be linked with accidents.

We can no longer rely on whispered warnings or sporadic inspections. Every structure that has stood for four decades or more must undergo a rigorous, engineering-led safety assessment, with the results made available online and in public records. If a building is unsafe, its fate should not be a secret negotiated settlement between landlords and corrupt officials - it must be known to the people whose lives hang in the balance.

Too often, people remain in death traps simply because they have nowhere else to go. If the state declares a building unsafe, it has a moral and legal obligation to provide temporary housing - whether that means repurposing unused government flats, schools during off-hours or subsidising hotel stays. The choice should never be between homelessness and certain death. If the government cannot provide temporary housing, it must on emergent basis shift its focus towards affordable housing.

Affordable housing can become widespread in Pakistan through a combination of policy reforms, innovative financing models and efficient urban planning. The country is now rapidly shifting towards affordable housing and sustainable materials - a trend that offers an opportunity to align cost efficiency with environmental responsibility.

As a civil engineer having a doctorate, I myself am working on sustainable buildings that not only reduce the carbon footprint by cutting greenhouse gas emissions but also lower construction costs. The government must prioritise inclusionary zoning, requiring developers to allocate a percentage of every new project to low- and middle-income households, while also unlocking underutilised public land for housing schemes. Low-cost financing options - such as micro-mortgages, subsidised interest rates and rent-to-own models - can make ownership achievable for millions currently priced out of the market. Local production of cost-effective, climate-resilient building materials, coupled with streamlined approval processes, can reduce construction costs and timelines.

I can also provide evidence-based recommendations to guide government initiatives toward affordable housing and help upscale them. At the same time, investment in mass transit and utility infrastructure will allow housing developments to expand beyond overcrowded urban cores, reducing land pressure and costs.

By pairing these measures with strict quality standards and transparent oversight, Pakistan can ensure that affordable housing is not just accessible but safe, sustainable, and dignified for all citizens.