Daily Times

Karachi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday rejected Association of Builders and Developers and Developers and others plea to grant stay against a ban imposed by Sindh Building Control Authority’s (on the construction of high-rise buildings in Karachi in compliance of SC orders.

A three-member bench headed by Justice Mushir Alam and comprising of Justice Faisal Arab and Justice Maqbool Baqir heard petitions filed by Abad and others against the ban imposed by SBCA on construction of multi-storey buildings in the city on the order of SC in water supply case.

Top lawyers of the country including Munir A Malik, Barrister Abid Zuberi, Barrister Farogh Naseem and other appeared before the court on behalf of the petitioners.

Advancing arguments before the bench, the petitioners’ counsels said that due to the ban on construction activities had came to a halt in Karachi. They added that the ban had also halted handing over of finished units or work on various ongoing projects.

Abad’s counsels while pleading the court to review its decision to impose ban on high-rises said that their clients were ready to provide under-ground waters to residents of high-rises by treating it through RO plants.

To which the court asked the counsels to apprise it at how many projects sea waters was being supplied to the inhabitant after treatment.

The counsels said that without providing water and other facilities at any high-rise building, the certificate of transfer should not be issued.

They pleaded the court to direct SCBA to allow such projects in areas where under-ground water is available and the builders would supply water to the project by treating it.

Upon this, a member of the bench remarked that the builders after construction and handing over of the flats would disappear and people would be hurling abuse at judges for doing nothing.

The bench rejected the plea by the petitioners to stay the ban till disposal of the petitions.

The court adjourned further hearing. In the wake of Supreme Court order’s, SBCA Director-General Agha Maqsood Abbas had imposed forthwith ‘a complete ban on the construction of multi-storied and high-rise buildings beyond ground plus two floors in Karachi’.

According to a statement, the ban was imposed after a letter was received from the local government department in compliance with the SC’s orders.

The apex court had directed the imposition of a complete ban on the construction of multi storeys and high-rise buildings till the water shortage in the city was overcome and new resources of potable water were put in place.

The incumbent managing director of the Karachi Water and Sewerage Board (KWSB), Hashim Raza Zaidi, wrote a letter on March 23rd to the local government secretary asking for the imposition of a complete ban in compliance with the SC’s orders on such constructions till the problem of water shortage in the city is overcome.

Published in Daily Times, August 30^th 2017.