Urban planning: City govt gets till 30th to identify violations

Plans for 25,000 commercial buildings have not been approved.

GUJRANWALA:

Gujranwala commissioner has given the city administration till June 30th to identify whether or not buildings bylaws have been violated in 2,500 buildings whose plans have not been approved.

Three-member town committees will then proceed against the owners of the buildings, all being used for commercial purposes, that are found to have violated the rules.

Assistant Commissioner (City) Syed Salahuddin told The Express Tribune that the committees would recommend action against these buildings. He said owners of the buildings with minor violations would be directed to make modifications in accordance with the bylaws. “Those with massive violations will be demolished,” he said.

Each committee includes an executive engineer, the town officer (revenue) and the town municipal officer (TMO).

The owners of the buildings with no violations will be directed to submit afresh the building plans for approval from the Buildings Department. They will also be charged a fee for commercial use of the building.

He said plans for these buildings were submitted with the administration between 2005 and 2012. However, he added, the owners had not followed up their applications to get the plans approved. He said the original applications for approval had been cancelled.

The assistant commissioner said the crackdown on buildings without approved plans was initiated following the collapse of a shopping plaza in Satellite Town. He said Commissioner Abdul Jabbar Shaheen was monitoring the campaign.

Of the 2,500 buildings without valid plans, 852 are in Aroop Town, 700 in Khayali Town, 492 in Nandipur Town ad 400 in Qila Deedar Singh Town.

Crackdown on dangerous buildings

A school building on GT Road was declared unfit for use by the city administration and demolished three days ago.

As many as 200 hazardous buildings have so far been identified in the city. AC Salahuddin said notices have been served on the occupants, directing them to vacate the buildings.

Published In The Express Tribune, June 24^th, 2012.