No way out

Barely a fortnight after the collapse of a building in the Lyari area of Karachi led to the deaths of at least 27 people, a similar incident has led to the deaths of at least two women. This time it was the roofs of the fourth and fifth floors of another residential building that collapsed last week on Thursday and, thankfully, the rest of the structure still remains standing. Reports claim that repair work being carried out on the fifth floor led to the incident and a case has now been registered against a man accused of carrying out illegal construction on the fifth floor without the proper approval or safety measures. This highlights the fact that unregulated construction work is being conducted right under the authorities’ noses. This latest collapse also comes just three days after a judicial magistrate remanded eight SBCA officials and two owners involved in the initial collapse and sent them to prison. The SBCA director general has also been suspended, while other officials have reportedly gone into hiding. It is encouraging to see the authorities cracking down on officials who have failed to prevent the construction of dangerous buildings. Such individuals are either incompetent or might have profited from ignoring safety regulations and allowing unsafe buildings to be raised, as some have alleged. However, as the latest collapse in Lyari shows, cleaning up the results of this incompetence and/or corruption will be a far harder task.

As things stand, the Sindh government has reportedly stated that there are over 700 dangerous buildings in the province. However, it should be noted that the building involved in the latest incident was not on the official list of dangerous structures, indicating that the real number could actually be higher. Now, the local government minister has announced that committees have been formed at the district level to re-survey 740 buildings declared dangerous across Karachi and the rest of the province as complaints had been received that some properties had been classified as dangerous buildings that could be made habitable after repairs. Authorities also suspect that personal interests may be influencing such classifications. So, rather than having a comprehensive plan on what to do about unsafe buildings and the people living in them, there now seems to be a debate about which buildings are actually unsafe and if they have been properly classified.

This is a depressing development. Meanwhile, there does not seem to be any clear path for the residents living in dangerous structures, as the government currently lacks immediate housing resources and is therefore offering the displaced persons temporary accommodation in schools, community halls and hotels. Who would leave even an unsafe home to end up squatting in a community hall, especially if they have no idea how long they will be there? Punishing corrupt and incompetent officials is a necessary but insufficient step. Such actors are able to thrive in an environment where impoverished, desperate people are willing to live in unsafe buildings because that is truly the best option available to them. Any comprehensive solution should thus involve safe affordable housing and better urban planning. The poor of Karachi and the rest of urban Pakistan do not deserve to live in homes in which they could one day be buried under. But right now, it seems as if they have no way out.