Builders voice reservations over ban on new high-rises

The Association of Builders and Developers (ABAD) has expressed serious reservations over the ban imposed by the Sindh Building Control Authority (SBCA) on the construction of new high-rise buildings in Karachi.

“It has stopped future transactions. Everything is at a standstill,” said Mohammad Hassan Bakhshi, senior vice chairman of the association, while talking to The News on Friday. 

He said ABAD was in the process of negotiations with the owners of plots after the imposition of the ban because all future transactions which took 14 months to compete had come to a halt. 

The SBCA’s immediate ban had put all the things in jeopardy, he said and demanded that the non-objection certificates that had already been issued should not be withdrawn, and if at all NOCs were issued, ABAD should be taken into confidence.

Bakhshi said the association would hold an emergency meeting to chalk out its future strategy.

Meanwhile, SBCA Director General Agha Maqsood Abbas told The News that there was no violation of the law had taken place and every high-rise had been given approval in the past.

He made these remarks when his attention was drawn to the fact that residential plots had been converted into commercial markets and plazas in the city. 

He said this was not a violation as converting residential plots into commercial ones was approved by the competent authority.

On Thursday, the SBCA had issued a notification banning the construction of new multi-storey buildings in the Karachi region.

The decision has been taken on the Supreme Court order of March 16, 2017.

According to the notification, issued by SBCA Director General Agha Maqsood Abbas, in future, only ground-plus-two buildings would be allowed in the metropolis. 

Dozens of high-rises without a parking lot have been built in the metropolis over the past decade, causing civic problems.

Earlier, the Sindh High Court had ordered the SBCA to stop issuing new no-objection certificates for high-rises in the Mirpurkhas district.

The Hyderabad Circuit Bench had ordered the authority to create a master plan for the Mirpurkhas city before the ban on high-rises could be lifted.

The order from the high court came over a petition filed by a citizen, Abdul Nasir Khan, a resident of the Mirpurkhas district.

During the hearing, a report prepared by the Mirpurkhas commissioner was submitted to the Sindh High Court, according to which 16 high-rises had been built in the district so far.