Built heritage: ‘WCLA team will try to preserve what remains’

Building regulations have been formulated for the Walled City.

LAHORE:

Building regulations for the Walled City of Lahore Authority have been formulated under the supervision of heritage lawyer Khurram Chughtai, consultant for the WCLA, after a delay of nearly eight months, The Express Tribune has learnt.

Talib Hussain, the director of WCLA’s Urban Planning and Building Control, said that the Authority faced many issues while drafting the bylaws. He said there were diverging opinions regarding the maximum heights of buildings, management of heritage buildings in residential and commercial areas and how to deal with encroachments in an amicable way.

The proposed by-laws will be reviewed at a meeting next month chaired by the chairman of the authority, Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif.

Chughtai told The Express Tribune there was no previous model in Pakistan for such legislation. He added “If these by-laws are implemented in their true spirit, walled city heritage will become a lot safer.”

One of the proposed by-laws disallows construction of buildings of more than four storeys (ground floor and three floors above it). Another prohibits the construction of basements, except on plots measuring more than one kanal and with the prior permission of the competent authority.

Permission for construction of multi-storey and public utility buildings will require a structural stability certificate, structural design drawings, a certificate from the fire department and certificates from an architect, a resident engineer and a structural engineer.

Details of the building materials and a no objection certificate from the Environmental Protection Agency will also have to be submitted.

It is proposed that the authority maintain a panel of vetting structural engineers.

The authority proposed to have the power to impose special conditions on account of factors like heritage value, urban fabric and the status of the property in a zone of special value.

It is also proposed that no building or portion of a building be demolished without prior written permission from the authority.

A ‘heritage property’ may not be demolished without the concurrence of the Heritage Conservation Board, unless it has been declared dangerous.

It is proposed that the WCLA have the power to seal a property and issue instructions to builders and occupants to improve facades and common utility areas.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 29^th, 2014.