Occupants told to vacate unsafe buildings ahead of rain

The Sindh Building Control Authority (SBCA) has warned that buildings which have been declared dangerous by its technical committee should be immediately vacated by the inhabitants for the protection of their lives and valuable goods.

In a statement issued on Thursday, the SBCA, quoting experts, pointed out that the risk of accidents increased manifold during rain, especially in buildings with dilapidated structures. Such buildings should therefore be immediately vacated, it said.

The statement said that as many as 354 buildings in Karachi had already been declared dangerous in the light of a survey conducted by the technical committee comprising construction experts and engineers.

The SBCA requested the people to avoid moving close to the dilapidated buildings during rain.

The authority recently imposed a ban on the construction of new high-rise buildings in the city.

Just a couple of weeks ago, on May 29, the SBCA had issued a statement that said most of the dangerous buildings in Karachi were located in Saddar Town-I - total 215 -  while Saddar Town-II had 57 such buildings.

According to the authority’s technical committee for dangerous buildings, there was a danger that the dilapidated buildings may collapse. The statement added that the SBCA had vacated several of the dilapidated buildings and demolished some others. It said the survey regarding the dangerous buildings was still being carried out and people had been requested to inform the SBCA about the unsafe buildings. — APP

News Desk adds: The SBCA had imposed a ban on the construction multi–storey buildings in the Karachi region on May 25.

The authority issued a notification of the ban while acting 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 city. 

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