Daily Times

KARACHI: Despite ban on high rise’s, Defense Housing Authority and cantonments boards in Karachi are still being engaged in raising high rise in their respective administrative areas, officials of Association of Builders And Developers have confirmed.

Water Commission has already rejected the appeal of ABAD for allowing water connections to high rise buildings.

Director Public Relations DHA Col Aurangzaib was of the view that after receiving confirmed reports on this issue, he could tell the factual situation.

“In case of any violation of ban, we would implement the law but at present the DHA has not issued any circular in this respect”, he added.

Hashim Raza Zaidi, Managing Director Karachi Water and Sewerage Board (KWSB) has said that every institution has been bound to obey the Supreme Court of Pakistan’s orders banning construction of buildings over one plus two storeys.

KWSB has already issued letters to all concerned cantonment boards and DHA administrator that water supply would not be entertained to projects built above one plus two and without no objection certificates of the KWSB, he remarked.

He was of the view that DHA and Board authorities have been responsible to implement the ban in their respective areas.

The building authorities are even getting NOCs from Sindh Building Control Board, Civil Aviation Authority and from Pakistan Air Force to avoid construction within restricted high rise areas within airbases.

This ban is sigh of relief for the citizens of Karachi who were fed up the over strained construction and the portions being built on small plots which are becoming nuisance to the residents of the areas.

The builders were also involved in the destruction of the greenery of the city since they were uprooting the trees in abundance planted in old bungalows but were totally reluctant to plant new trees after building plazas on the place.

SBCA has already slapped a complete ban on construction of beyond ground-plus-two storeys.

The ban had been imposed in light of SCP’s order, which came after the petition filled by KWSB that it had deficient resources to supply water for the increasing number of high-rise buildings, which were increasingly popping up on the city’s landscape.

Waseem Akhtar Mayor Karachi was of the view, “It is not enough to ban future high-rise buildings in the city; what is more important is that the relevant authorities should cancel all those no objection certificates, which have already been issued to more than 100 skyscrapers, which have not yet been constructed”.

There may be a complete ban on construction of multistory and a high-rise (vertical) building till the water shortage has been overcome and new resources of drinking water are put in place.

Patron-in-Chief, ABAD Mohsin Sheikhani, strongly refuting the impression that high-rise building are creating civic problems, has advocated need of high-rise residential buildings to overcome the shortage of houses because the land is becoming dearer and demand for houses is increasing in the cities of Pakistan.

Published in Daily Times, June 21st, 2017.