Negligible maintenance: In a deplorable state, Pakistan Navy’s apartments trouble residents

No action has been taken despite repeated complaints to authorities, say residents.

KARACHI:

Aamir* lives in an apartment near the Clifton beach , a location considered top-notch by many due to its view of the sea and proximity to the city centres. But due to the deplorable state of his apartment, the perks of the location don’t seem enough to Aamir anymore.

The young man lives in one of the five apartments - collapsing bit by bit due to lack of maintenance - owned by the Pakistan Navy in block 75-A of the Sea View Township.

Showing cracks at one of the bedroom ceiling which appeared after the August rains, Aamir complained, “The roof can fall down anytime. Why are the officials not concerned?” According to him, every time it rains, the roof of his house starts dripping as proved by the moist ceilings of his apartment.



Another resident and an officer working for the Pakistan Navy said that they had sent complaints several times to their high-ups, but the response so far has been laidback. “We can’t pay for the repairs of the infrastructure as the houses are owned by the Pakistan Navy. We can only complain.”

They told The Express Tribune that relevant officers had turned up in Ramazan to survey the damages but no concrete steps had been taken so far. “It appears that until and unless something unfortunate happens, no one will take this issue seriously.”

While the navy spokesperson was unavailable for comments, the official of the Cantonment Board Clifton said that it was not responsible for the repair and maintenance of the building. Their engineer Abid Shah, however, said that if residents believed that the building was dangerous, they could complain to them about the matter.

Out of the nine apartments in the block, four belong to civilians and are better maintained with a neat façade and trimmed gardens. They fear, however, that the structure falling from the dilapidated units could prove dangerous for them.



Pointing towards the worn-out apartments, resident Imtiaz Piracha said that the sheds outside the windows had fallen down. “Thankfully the concrete blocks did not fall down on anyone but they did damage the furniture at the site.”

Piracha swiftly moved towards the back of the apartments owned by the Pakistan Navy which was occupied with overgrown grass and wild plants. Broken gutter pipes and strewn garbage could also be seen in the area. Some of the iron rods were coming out of the exterior of the apartments. “Look at this dirt and this unhygienic environment,” said the resident while lead the way toward the garages, whose roofs had caved in and they had become home to broken furniture and trash.

Inside, the condition was no different - walls and doors with paint peeling off greeted visitors in the Navy apartments. “These apartments are 30 to 40 years old but I don’t think that the authorities have ever invested in their maintenance,” said Piracha.

The civilian residents also shared concerns about the people who were allotted the apartments, saying that the servant quarters of the officers were crammed with dozens of people. “We don’t know who is living there. A few months back, we had kicked out some residents who were living in the Navy apartments after we found out that two men had criminal records,” said the worried resident.

*Name changed to protect privacy of individual

Published in The Express Tribune, September 22^nd, 2013.