Karachi: It will be ten years in October since the luxury Margalla Towers apartment complex came crashing down due to faulty construction resulting in the loss of over 70 innocent lives and numerous injured. This resulted in the arrest of the main architect in Greece with the help of Interpol. Multiple investigations were undertaken since then in an attempt to understand the cause of this tragedy. These have cost the Government of Pakistan large sums of money but have effectively concluded that this incident was the direct result of negligence on the part of a few who were in-charge of the construction. Questions are being raised even now as to why the two Margalla Towers blocks, each comprising 10 stories and 60 apartments, collapsed. According to independent experts in Civil Engineering, it is imperative that building codes are formulated on a priority basis to ensure that tragedies like the Margalla Towers do not occur again. Had the tower been built properly and responsibly, it would not have collapsed. Greed is the underlying factor which unfortunately motivates developers when pursuing projects of this nature - there is a complete disregard to any and all basic regulatory and safety requirements. However, all the blame cannot rest solely on the shoulders of the developers - our regulatory bodies who are tasked with ensuring that all buildings and infrastructure is constructed as per the requirements laid down by the law also fail miserably in this regard. This incompetence on the part of our regulatory bodies is the main reason why we, as a nation, have witnessed too many of such incidents across the country. But there is little to no accountability and therefore no improvement. Instead of putting public interest and safety first, the building authorities have allowed the builders to carry out defective development works in pursuance of their own ulterior motives and personal gains. Their complete apathy and indifference is beyond anyone’s imagination. Such a state of affairs is unfortunately just a regrettable norm and it appears that we should now mentally prepare ourselves for another Margalla Tower. The construction of Creek View and Creek Terraces project (also known as Arkadian Towers) by AKD Capital Limited in Defence Housing Authority Phase VIII Karachi stands at a similar risk if corrective measures are not taken instantly and the faulty construction halted. The major concern arises when we look at the results of an actual pile load test report conducted by the structural consultants of the project, by the name of Geo Professionals. The same is available on record in Suit No. 1271 of 2012 pending before the Sindh High Court. This report clearly shows the tested working piles scoring irregular “rebounce” percentages after being pressurized and tested. According to independent experts there is sufficient doubt in the pile test report to inspire serious technical scrutiny. This imminent danger with respect to the structural instability of the project and the negligence, with which construction work has been carried out by AKD Capital Limited, has already been brought to the attention of the regulatory authority i.e. DHA by the consortium of consultants - Integrated Consulting Services, Kashif Alam & Associates and Consultants Group through a letter dated 19.11.12. This consortium, which claims to be the “sole Technical Consultants” for the project in Suit No. 1271 of 2012, stated as follows, “...Keeping in mind major disasters in past such as the Margalla Towers in Islamabad, it is our obligation to point out a very serious and dangerous development affecting the structural safety and stability of the project...That we have highly reliable and confirmed information that more than 200 piles of Tower A and Tower B were developed recently. As the building structures rest on these piles, these are absolutely critical for building and structural stability and this has to be taken very seriously. Yet this critical work was carried out without our knowledge and was reportedly monitored by unqualified and unauthorized persons. Subsequently, 9 working piles...were tested. All nine piles failed the test and were found to be completely flawed in respect to structural stability.” The serious risk of structural failure of the project continues to pose a threat to the lives of hundreds of people who will utilize this building. Objections have been raised but have not been addressed let alone resolved by the DHA and continue to remain pending. No internal investigation in this regard has been carried out so far. Therefore, the AKD Capital Limited continues to build on such unsafe and faulty piles posing a serious threat to the lives of those who will reside there. This matter is of utmost importance as piles are the foundation upon which high-rise buildings are built and the DHA must take notice before it is too late. Despite reports to the contrary the builder has continued to stress in the honourable High Court that the towers being constructed on the piles are safe. Showing no sign of discomfort or concern the builder has relied on a report of EA Private Ltd which suggests that since the load of towers has been reduced from its original weight of 375 tonnes, the same is now safe and sound even on the casted piles. Because of such reservations against the strength and stability of piles of the project, the lawyers in Suit No. 1271 of 2012, have recently urged the court to appoint an independent technical expert so as to determine the strength of pile work and structure of the building. As a result of this prayer, the lawyers had mutually agreed on appointing M/s Nespak and the task was assigned to it. However, Nespak in its response has made it clear that it would not issue any certificate about piles of the project, regardless of the tests conducted on it. Nespak has further added that a certificate cannot be issued at this stage of the construction of the building. A perusal of the report by Nespak begs the question as to why construction of the project was not halted and corrective measures not taken at the initial stage when the faulty nature of construction was revealed by the pile load tests. Even earlier an independent accountability body had also made serious allegations that the reason why such high rise projects continue to be built is due to influence - monetary or political. It is worth looking into as to why such scenarios keep arising when there are supposedly regulatory bodies present to ensure that such circumstances do not arise. This oversight of the facts and adherence to the requirements of safety, deliberate or otherwise, by the DHA has allowed AKD Capital Limited to potentially endanger the lives, rights and privileges of thousands of innocent residents of this project. It is up to us all to determine whether we are comfortable with the idea of another Margalla Tower tragedy waiting to happen. The time to act is now, not when the project has been completed. It becomes all the more distressing to discover that such claims are being made by a builder that otherwise was not technically qualified to build this project and has no prior experience of construction.
