Court asks KMC to explain how it is building a 40-storey tower on a plot for a stadium
The city administration’s move to commercialise yet another huge amenity plot has met a hurdle this time. The Sindh High Court has issued a notice to the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) to explain the proposal to build a 40-storey tower in Block-7, Gulshan-e-Iqbal.
Former Dawn columnist Ardeshir Cowasjee and Ms. Nusrat Jamali had moved the court against the Sindh Building Control Authority’s (SBCA) proposed plan to construct the multi-storied building on a playground along University Road.
The building control director general and the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation were cited as respondents.
The amenity plot, No. ST-8 in Block-7 of KDA Scheme 24, was reserved for recreational purposes, and a hockey stadium was build there to promote sports. On March 31, the building control authority announced through the media that it would construct an SBCA Tower on the plot.
The building control authority was planning to convert the status of the amenity plot itself by acting in violation of the provisions of the Karachi Building and Town Planning Regulations, 2002, contended the petitioners’ lawyer, Barrister Abdur Rahman.
A multi-storied building on the land reserved for a hockey playground is in sheer violation of the provisions of Articles 9, 14, 16, 17, 23 and 24 of the Constitution, which guarantee citizens their right to amusement opportunities and a pollution-free environment, he argued
Rahman appealed to the court to restrain the authorities from taking any action against the rights of citizens and to declare illegal the conversion of stadium land for commercial construction.
On Saturday, the SBCA’s lawyer stated in court that the land was owned by the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation. Justice Maqbool Baqar then issued notice to KMC to file its comments by September 26.
Published in The Express Tribune, August 26th, 2012.
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These rulers will even sell the homes of poor Pakistani's to get their share of commission nd kickbacks.