Daily Times

With rapid urbanization, it is estimated that by the year 2030, 45.6 percent of Pakistan’s population will be living in cities. However, safety codes for the construction of buildings are often ignored in Pakistan due to which incidents of building collapses are quite common, according to experts at a virtual session hosted by Iqbal Institute of Policy Studies (IIPS).

Dr Sarosh Hashmat Lodhi, Vice-Chancellor NED University of Engineering & Technology; Dr Ashfaq Ahmed Sheikh, Additional Registrar CPD (PEC); Dr Shahid Mehmood, Member Planning and Design (CDA); Lt Gen (r) M Haroon Aslam, President IIPS Advisory Board, Brig (r) Khaliq ur Rashid Kiyani, CEO Architectural and Civil Engineering Services (ACES), Major (r) Nawaz Minhas, CEO Kingcrete Builders, and Khurram Farid Bargatt, Member IIPS Advisory Board spoke on the occasion. The session focused on pragmatically assessing the reasons for building collapses in Pakistan and recommending policy solutions to prevent such tendencies in future.

Expressing his views on why buildings collapse in Pakistan, Lt Gen (r) M Haroon Aslam highlighted that absence of regulatory compliance is one of the major causes of fragile built environment in Pakistan. He stated that the construction industry is in a developing stage in Pakistan. There is an urgent need to eliminate bottlenecks such as corrupt practices in the industry, improve land regulation and building control, standardize and implement building laws across the board and impart latest skills to students for the future of the industry, he added.

Dr Sarosh Hashmat Lodhi said the most fundamental cause of building collapse is the non-observance of construction codes and safety codes.

According to Dr Shahid Mehmood, old buildings that have outlived their useful life are more prone to collapse. Poor maintenance of buildings can reduce the life of structures and need periodical checks and inspection for faults, he added.