Needing an uplift: Lack of strict building rules elevate into a full blown crisis

Lax laws mean building maintenance unions are getting away with murder.

KARACHI: When Murad Ahmed got stuck in an elevator, installed at Noman Avenue in Gulistan-e-Jauhar, he was unaware of what would happen next and the biggest question in his mind was if he would die of suffocation.

Fortunately, after five minutes, he was rescued and taken to a hospital. However, his friend Zeeshan Nadeem was not as lucky when he had been trapped in another elevator installed near the Gulbai Chowrangi during its maintenance. By the time the rescue workers were able to get to him, they could only recover his body, and according to the medico-legal examination, he had died of suffocation.



A day later, the police registered a case of accidental death and almost immediately closed the file. But the question still remains in Ahmed's mind as to why the police could not arrest or investigate the building's union as the accident was a clear case of gross negligence.

"All unions and owners of commercial and residential buildings charge a significant fee for the maintenance of buildings," he said. "So why could the police not register a case against the union of the apartments?"

The Alliance of Market Association president, Atiq Mir, who represents 400 different unions of shopping plazas and markets, also agreed that these incidents happen due to the negligence of the maintenance unions.

"Hardly one per cent of the unions of shopping plazas and residential apartments follow the building safety codes," he said, adding that the authorities would have to be strict if they hope to put an end to such incidents.

Mir further said it is the responsibility of the market unions to conduct regular surveys to check the condition of the elevators, the fire-extinguishing systems and other building codes. "Normally the incident occurs when the caretaker bypasses the safety locks of the elevators and someone gets stuck inside them and dies out of suffocation or falls down inside the shaft," he said.

Who's responsible?

The Sindh Building Control Authority (SBCA) spokesperson, Ali Farhan, informed The Express Tribune that the building laws make it mandatory for the owners of shopping malls and apartments to register with the SBCA maintenance society. "It is the responsibility of the maintenance society to check for any irregularities in the buildings safety codes," he said.

He added, however, that the SBCA is not responsible for the building's maintenance and if someone dies due to the negligence of the maintenance society, it is the society that should be held responsible.

Meanwhile, Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) council director Gufran Ahmed said the KMC has no bylaws for building maintenance. "The survey to check for any violation of the building codes does not fall under the KMC's jurisdiction," he claimed.

Legal opinion

Karachi Bar Association president Barrister Sallahuddin Ahmed felt that the police should register such cases as unintentional murder rather than as accidental death.

He added that most of the unions of apartments and shopping plazas have turned a blind eye to such incidents and when they do occur, the unions influence the police into registering the cases as accidental deaths. "It is the main reason that the police normally close these files," he said.

Worse than it looks

Edhi spokesperson Anwar Kazmi told The Express Tribune that the situation is worse than what is reported.

"Our media does not even report such news but you can understand that this is a very serious issue," said Kazmi. "The city grows vertically, hundreds of large buildings have been built and thousands use elevators every day. There is an urgent need to address this issue." 

Published in The Express Tribune, June 5^th, 2014.