MONSOON: Final notices served on owners of 83 dilapidated buildings in Pindi

Rawalpindi:Once again Commissioner Rawalpindi Division, Metropolitan Corporation has issued final notices to the owners of dilapidated buildings warning them to vacate all such buildings that are in poor condition before the onset of monsoon to avert any untoward incident.

While forecasting heavy rainfall, Pakistan Meteorological Department has already alerted the authorities to the possibility of ‘flash floods’ in monsoon but the concerned civic body is only issuing warnings to the owners of such buildings and has failed to take stern action against the families living in such buildings for years despite repeated warnings.

According to Municipal Officer Planning (MOP) Ali Imran final notices have been served upon the owners of all dilapidated buildings in the city limits. “We have warned them to vacate the poorly conditioned buildings immediately before monsoon otherwise strict action will be taken against them,” he said. “There are total of 83 buildings in dilapidated condition in the city and we have issued warning notices to all of them,” he claimed.

Not only residential buildings but some school buildings are also in dilapidated condition posing a life threat to the students.

Reliable sources said that Commissioner Rawalpindi Division Syed Gulzar Hussain Shah expressing displeasure over poor performance of the planning department of Metropolitan Corporation Rawalpindi warned the officials to show their performance on practical grounds instead of only on papers. The commissioner has directed the planning department to take strict action against the owners of dilapidated buildings, the sources said.

It seems that the concerned authority is waiting for a terrible incident as monsoon is about to set in and most of the families are still living in dilapidated buildings in the city and cantonment board localities. The concerned authority has completed paperwork by issuing only warning notices to owners of these dilapidated buildings. The concerned civic body during a survey found out more than 100 poorly-conditioned buildings in city areas that could fall down with heavy rains. It was also decided to register FIRs against owners of dilapidated buildings instead of only issuing warning notices but it proved nothing while families as per routine are settled in dilapidated buildings.

The majority of old dilapidated buildings are located in Mochi Bazaar, Dalgaran Bazaar, Arya Mohallah, Bhabra Bazaar, Sarafa Bazaar, Mareer Hassan, Ganjmandi, Waris Khan, Liaquat Road, Barra Bazaar, Namak Mandi, Ratta Amral, Pirwadhai, Dosehra, Railway Road, Babu Bazaar, Trunk Bazaar, Urdu Bazaar, Banni, Jamia Masjid Road, Bagh Sardaran, and along Benazir Bhutto Road. The rooftops of some of the buildings have already fallen due to wear and tear but concerned authorities are not taking action against owners of such buildings who are still living in other portions.

Last year, Punjab Chief Minister Usman Buzdar had directed Deputy Commissioner (DC), Rawalpindi to submit a detailed report of old buildings to start their renovations. The local administration has submitted a detailed report of old buildings but yet they are waiting for the release of funds to start the renovation work.

Talking to ‘The News’ the neighbours of families living in dilapidated buildings said that they have to spend sleepless nights due to poor condition buildings in their neighbourhood. They have appealed to Prime Minister Imran Khan to take action against dilapidated buildings that are posing a serious life threat to them particularly during monsoon.