KARACHI: The Supreme Court (SC) on Tuesday withdrew its stay order for high-rises building and ruled that more than six storeys can be built as per the relevant laws. A three-member bench headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Justice Mian Saqib Nisar while hearing a petition filed by Association of Builders and Developers (ABAD) Pakistan against imposed ban on high-rise constructions at Karachi Registry, withdrew its order with directives that all construction activities should be carried out in accordance with the prescribed laws and regulations of civic bodies related to construction in the city. “As per Sindh Building Control Authority (SBCA) laws, high-rise buildings can be constructed,” SC bench directed. “The industry as well as Bahria Town would also benefit from this,” said Justice Nisar. Some six months back, SC had restrained the Sindh Building Control Authority (SBCA) and cantonment boards from approving construction of new buildings with more than six storeys. The stay order was given in the hearing of a case related to the non-availability of pure drinking water and worsened sanitation in the port city. After the court order, the SBCA had issued a notification on May 23, calling for a complete ban on construction of multi-story buildings in the city. It also stated that the authority had received a letter from the Sindh Local Government seeking to impose a ban on all high-rise buildings in compliance with the order of the Supreme Court. Talking to journalists after SC directives, ABAD members said that SC had withdrawn ban that was placed two years ago. Now, buildings will be constructed as per law, they maintained. “Over 500 projects and investment more than Rs 1,000 billion had been stopped owing to ban,” they informed. Almost 500,000 workers of construction industry were rendered jobless and thousands of workers from allied industries were also affected, according to ABAD. ABAD chairman Hassan Bakshi thanked Chief Justice and members of bench. After the verdict, ABAD chairman said that historic verdict would not benefit ABAD but also bring positive impact on national economy. He said that ABAD would also play a key role in Prime Minister’s initiatives for construction of five million houses programme in Pakistan. He vowed to make construction and housing sector largest taxpayer of Pakistan in coming days. Hassan Bakshi also revealed that because of ban, construction was halted on more than five hundred projects in Karachi, freezing investment of nearly Rs 6 billion and creating unemployment of hundreds of thousands of people. “Because of halt on construction activities around 112 vendor industries had been suffering and on verge of shut down,” he explained. “Lifting of ban on high rise construction will benefit national economy because construction industry in Karachi plays the same role as textile industry,” he said. He also thanked other stakeholders of construction and real estate as well as people of allied industries who supported ABAD in efforts to end ban on high rise buildings. Published in Daily Times, December 12th 2018.