SBCA told to ensure illegally constructed buildings in Karachi get no utility services

Sindh Local Government Minister Saeed Ghani has directed the Sindh Building Control Authority (SBCA) to contact the public utilities, including the Karachi Electric, Karachi Water & Sewerage Corporation and Sui Southern Gas Company to bind them not to provide their utility services to the buildings illegally constructed in Karachi without the SBCA’s completion certificates.

The local government minister issued these directives while chairing a meeting at his office with SBCA officials on Thursday. He said the demolition committees, earlier notified by the government on May 27, 2022, with deputy commissioners in the districts as their heads, should be revived.

He added that the entire field staff and building inspectors of the SBCA from now onwards would certify every month that no illegal construction was taking place in their respective jurisdictions. He said that these certificates would be countersigned by the relevant senior building inspectors, assistant directors, deputy directors and directors of the SBCA.

These officials would be taken to task if, in the future, it was found that these certificates were falsely issued, Ghani warned. The local government minister directed the officials concerned to speed up the work to incorporate amendments to the SBCA rules to ensure their enforcement and streamline the working of the authority.

He said the SBCA should rescind the building plans, which were issued to the builders who violated these plans or were involved in illegal constructions in the city. He said that more stern punitive action should also be taken against the erring builders.

Ghani directed the relevant officials to lodge FIRs against the people involved in illegal constructions in the city. He warned that building inspectors, senior building inspectors and additional directors of the SBCA who connived in illegal constructions in the city would either be suspended from service or be transferred to other districts.

He opined that SBCA officials were empowered to purge the city of illegal constructions. He said the SBCA's web portal should provide updated information to citizens about their plots and disseminate necessary information to the general public so that they would not invest their hard-earned money in illegal real estate projects.

SBCA Director General Ishaq Khuhro said the sub-registrars of land of the Sindh Board of Revenue should also not issue leases to the buildings that did not have the completion certificates issued by the authority.

District East Deputy Commissioner Abrar Zafar said that he had written several letters to the SBCA based on public complaints, but to no avail. He said the relevant directors of the SBCA should act on the public's complaints regarding illegal constructions.