Construction woes: In Sukkur city, high-rise boom finds ‘legal’ cover

Amid lack of infrastructure, rampant developers race to legalise illegally constructed buildings.

SUKKUR:

Infrastructure development is a distant dream for the people of Sukkur city, used to living in a suffocating environment. For ages, the citizens have been drinking water not fit for consumption and that too is not easily available in many localities. The drainage system is nonexistent and most of the main roads and streets often remain swamped by sewage.

But when it comes to construction, Sukkur is witnessing high-rise buildings mushrooming across the city. And due to the absence of any building regulatory authority, the majority of the projects have no proper building plans. Some of the developers have got their buildings approved from the Sukkur Municipal Corporation (SMC), which itself has no legal authority to approve the projects.

Nobody used to pay any heed to these high-rises until a residential building collapsed on December 25, 2008, in which seven people were killed and 14 more were injured. The owner and the plaza’s builder were among 18 people booked by the police over their negligence, but influential politicians came to their rescue and the case was hushed up. A former taluka nazim, Kazim Ali Shah, had initially approved the ground plus two structure. His successor, Mohammad Naeem Siddiqui, gave further approval for constructing three more floors.

The Supreme Court had also taken suo motu notice of the incident and directed the Sindh Building Control Authority (SBCA) to identify all buildings constructed in violation of relevant laws. In turn, the regulatory authority identified 59 buildings in Sukkur constructed in violation of Sindh Building Control Ordinance 1979 and Building Code of Pakistan (Seismic Provisions-2007).

Advisory

In an advertisement published in Daily Express, Sukkur on May 1, 2011, the SBCA had asked the people not to book units in these high-rise projects, until they are “cleared”. The body also directed the building developers to submit their construction plans for review through the consulting engineers and architects registered under the Pakistan Engineering Council and the Pakistan Council of Architects and Town Planners.

Reliable sources, however, say that no such plans have been submitted to the SBCA so far.

Illegal constructs

Reliable sources told The Express Tribune that the SBCA may have identified only 59 “illegal buildings” in the city, another 235 buildings have been constructed without any proper planning in the thickly-populated areas.

Of the 59 buildings, most are ground plus eight and ground plus twelve projects, while 23 don’t even have reserved car parks. With the city’s road width not more than 35 feet, the buildings without ample parking space are proving to be a menace as traffic jams have become a daily routine.

Encroachments

The commercial and residential high-rise developers have also eaten up some amenity plots. The lands for Khan Bahadur Khudadad Dispensary, APWA School, Humayun Gymkhana, a fire brigade station and the Pak Colony meat market have all been encroached.

According to the SMC records, the dispensary plot was allotted to Arafat Builders to construct 20 shops, 26 offices, 48 flats and one clinic.

Tufail Soomro, the Sukkur municipal commissioner, told The Express Tribune that the Arafat Builders had paid Rs3.5 million to the SMC in advance and will pay a rent of Rs386,400 yearly. He claimed that the plot was not sold to the builder, rather given as “goodwill”.

The plots for fire station and meat market were given away to Al-Abid Builders on a one-time payment of Rs8 million. The project will consist of 100 shops, 80 offices and 200 flats. The SMC will charge the developer a total rent of Rs1.6 million per year.

Pay your way

On a visit to Sukkur last year, Sindh Local Government Minister Agha Siraj Durrani, who heads the SBCA, had warned of legal action against developers of all high-rise building constructed in violation of laws. He had said that the building plans were approved by the taluka administration, which was not authorised to do so.

Reliable sources told The Express Tribune that SBCA Director General Manzoor Qadir also visited Sukkur and held a meeting with the developers of high-rise projects on May 18. [Qadir] came up with the idea to legalise the buildings by charging Rs100,000 plus Rs500,000 for each storey, they alleged.

The SBCA is supposed to safeguard the people’s interests, but its head is siding with the builders, they claimed. The sources further alleged that Qadir also advised the builders to form an association to “protect their rights”.

A developers’ association has recently been formed with Pakistan Peoples Party Sindh council member Aijaz Baloch as its president.

Despite repeated attempts by this reporter, the SBCA officers and the provincial minister concerned could not be contacted.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 16^th, 2012.