Lyari, Jauhar face SBCA demolition drive against dilapidated buildings in Karachi

SBCA official says more than 500 buildings across Karachi declared dangerous, including 106 in District South alone

The Sindh Building Control Authority has stepped up its ongoing operation to demolish dilapidated and dangerous structures across the metropolitan city, with work currently underway in Lyari and District South.

According to officials, the operation is being carried out with extreme caution as many of the unsafe buildings are located in densely populated areas surrounded by other residential structures.

SBCA Demolition Director Rehan Khan said that the authority has initiated the first phase of demolishing structures declared hazardous. “Buildings in Lyari’s Agra Taj Colony and Naya Abad are being razed manually without involving machinery,” he said, adding that the demolition operation has been ongoing for the past four days.

He said, one floor of a seven-storey building in Lyari has already been demolished, while work on the remaining six floors is in progress.

Khan added that under the first phase, dilapidated and unusable buildings in the Old City quarters are being demolished. “There are more than 500 dangerous buildings across Karachi, including 106 in District South alone,” he revealed, noting that all uninhabitable structures in the area will be razed in stages.

Meanwhile, two more buildings declared dangerous in Lyari have been evacuated as a precautionary measure, according to SBCA sources.

Separately, the SBCA has decided to begin demolition work on the ‘Yasir Terrace’ residential project in Gulistan-e-Jauhar on Monday morning. The building had earlier been declared unusable, but demolition was delayed due to protests by residents when SBCA team reached the site last week.

Officials said the SBCA aims to clear all high-risk structures ahead of the winter season to prevent potential tragedies may be caused by collapsing buildings.

Meanwhile, the operation to demolish houses in Afghan Basti, Gulshan-e-Maymar Afghan entered its fifth day on Sunday, with over 1,200 structures razed so far.

According to Director Anti-Encroachment Amir Fazal Owaissi and SHO Zone-I Shayan Anjum, the settlement, established in 1984 over 215 acres, housed more than 3,200 residential and commercial units occupied by Afghan refugees.

Officials said the drive, part of the government’s repatriation policy for Afghan refugees, is being jointly conducted by the Anti-Encroachment Force, MDA, and police using heavy machinery.

DSP Manghopir Masroor Ahmed Jatoi said about 90% of 15,000 residents have already returned to Afghanistan, while the rest will leave gradually as the operation continues until the land is fully cleared.

In July, at least 27 people lost their lives when a five-storey residential building collapsed in Lyari’s Baghdadi area, prompting the Sindh Building Control Authority (SBCA) to launch a demolition drive targeting other unsafe structures in the vicinity.

SBCA teams have since begun demolishing several dilapidated buildings that were identified as potentially hazardous.