Public safety: 255 hazardous buildings in Gujranwala

‘Prosecution of 30 owners underway for failure to respond to notices’.

GUJRANWALA:

As many as 255 buildings have been identified as hazardous in two towns of Gujranwala in a survey that is in progress.

Of these, 225 building have been declared unfit for use in Khayali Town. Town municipal Officer Gulshan  Begam told The Express Tribune that FIRs had been registered against owners of 30 buildings for their failure to respond to notices issued by the town administration. She said the occupants of the remaining 195 buildings had assured the administration that the buildings would be vacated in a month.

“We have received assurances from the occupants of these buildings. We will prosecute them if they fail to honour their commitments,” the TMO said.

She said the FIRs had been registered under Sections 142 and 146 of the Local Government Ordinance Schedule Eight at Aimanabad, Saddar and Khalaya police stations.

The TMO said most dangerous buildings identified in the survey were in the Old City area – 125. Of the remaining, 70 are on GT Road and 30 in Aimanabad, she said.

Nandipur Town administration says they will issue notices to 30 dangerous buildings identified in their jurisdiction by coming Tuesday. TMO Khudadad Tarar said FIRs would be lodged if the occupants failed to vacate the buildings in stipulated time.

Construction without approval of plans

More than 1,700 buildings have so far been identified in the district which have been constructed without approval of plans, building inspectors of Khayali, Nandipur, Qila and Aroop Towns told The Tribune.

However, the TMOs refused to certify the figure. They said the survey was in progress.

Nandipur Town Building Inspector Ashraf Mughal said there were 600 such buildings on Haideri Road, Ferozewala Road, Kashmir Road, GT Road, Ghoray Dor Road and in Peoples Colony and  Kangi Wala. In addition, he said, plans of 60 under construction commercial buildings had also not been approved by the administration.

Khayali Towns Inspector Azhar Hussain Cheema said they had identified just over 200 buildings without approved plans. As many as 700 such buildings were identified in Aroop and Qila Towns.

The surveys was started on directives of Divisional Commissioner Abdul Jabbar Shaheen following the collapse of a commercial plaza in Satellite Town in the month of April. As many as 14 people, including 10 workers, had died and 29 injured in the accident.

The commissioner has directed the administration to identify buildings that are no longer fit for use as well as the structures that are constructed in violation of building bylaws. He has also formed a four-member committee to recommend action on the basis of the survey findings.

The committee consists of: the Gujranwala DCO, the EDOs for municipal services and buildings and the district officer for Roads.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 13^th, 2012.