There must be millions of citizens of Karachi who wish their day to commence by their being able to say : 'I am well, the sun is shining. Rioters, bigots and arsonists permitting, I will venture forth, arrive safely at my place of employment to find it intact, and return home to find my house as it was, undamaged, unviolated.'

To the literate amongst these citizens who read newspapers, I recommend that the first thing they read each morning should be the page headed 'Miscellanea' in this newspaper. They will there find cartoons detailing the daily life of the Gambols, the happenings in the Kingdom of Id (a place where I would be happy to spend the remainder of my days), the doings of Archie, and a few others. For some time, the adventures of Hagar the Horrible have been missing. Why? Surely the old Viking still lives.

A few days ago, the little King of Id, wearing his crown (a cross between a Gandhi cap and a Bohra pugree) was shown addressing his subjects from his turret top: 'Your beloved king has eliminated crime in the city parks.' The crowd applauds: 'Hooray,' cry some, others ask 'How did you do it?' The King replies: 'I legalised mugging.'

The subject of the safety of those who live in buildings in Karachi has once again arisen. This particular aspect has been dealt with again and again, it Is boring in the extreme, but it is vital, The Nizami-spawned Karachi Development Authority and its twin, the Karachi Building Control Authority, remain as corrupt, as crooked, as devious, as damaging as they were in the beginning, and unless something radical happens they are likely to remain so now and for evermore.

The KDA is headed by its director-general, at present Brigadier Zaheeruddin Kadri, a fiscally honest man but a confused man, surrounded as he is by a large number of surplus and dishonest men. Being a military man he has a military mind, and he wishes to demolish what he terms to be his enemy, the governing body of the KDA. He is desperately trying to do so with the assistance of his minister, Dewan Mohammad Yusuf Faruqui (sadly not a patch on his father, my friend Dewan Umar Faruq Faruqui).

For the first time in the GB's existence, the private members who sit with me happen to be (by accident) men who wish no favours or plots from the KDA. They are now engaged in combat with the Sindh government on the issue of its intention to regularize illegal/unauthorised/ faulty/dangerous buildings.

The majority of high-rise buildings which stand in Karachi fall under the 'faulty' classification. Now, as to how these buildings managed to be built. The builders of high-rises, higher than ground plus four storeys, are expected to send in plans which meet with the rules and regulations, making the building suitable to withstand 'Zone 2' earthquakes as defined by the Uniform Building Code of the US. The KBCA is expected to have the plans vetted by their engineers and an external panel of proof engineers. This seldom happens. The plans are normally merely stamped and approved.

What the builders then build are not even in conformity with the plans so dishonestly approved. 'Noora Kushti' then comes into its own. The KBCA makes ostensible objections and sends notices to the builders. The builders employ lawyers known for their ability to 'grease', and they rush to court. These men of law manage to get court orders of sorts restraining the KBCA from taking any action and allowing the builders to continue construction. The judges concerned, knowingly or unknowingly, effectively become the Chief Controller of the concerned buildings. Others involved, criminally or not, are the builder, his architect, his engineer, his lawyer, his aiders and abettors - the KBCA Building Controllers and the KBCA lawyers.

The buildings are completed, no occupancy/completion certificates are asked for by the builders or issued by the KBCA. In fact, no such certificate has been issued to any high-rise built since 1994.

The buildings are then allowed to be unlawfully occupied by the allottees/buyers who themselves are not interested in establishing whether or not they are occupying a safe and lawfully constructed building. By law, the KBCA should evict the occupants. This they never have done, using various excuses as a cover.

This same series of events was routine in Turkey prior to the 1999 earthquake, and from what one can now judge, it is the same in India.

In the event that an illegally and badly constructed building collapses, and people die or are injured, everyone from the judge downwards is responsible. There have been various claims, counter-claims and judgements regarding illegal buildings, but the two judgements which hold the field are 1999 SCMR 2089 Messrs (Excell Builders & others vs Ardeshir Cowasjee & others) and 1999 SCMR 2883 (Ardeshir Cowasjee & others vs Karachi Building Control Authority-KMC & others). The judges in both cases were Chief Justice of Pakistan Ajmal Mian and Justices Mohammad Bashir Jehangiri, Mamoon Kazi, Shaikh Riaz Ahmad and Chaudhry Mohammad Arif. Both judgements, which cover most aspects of illegal constructions, stand unchallenged. The barrister on the winning side was none other than the indefatigable Mohammad Gilbert Naim-ur-Rahman who often rises for the people without being paid. Strangely, some lower courts still decide contra to what Ajmal Mian has so painstakingly set forth in these two judgements of merit.

With regard to the latest 'regularization' misadventure on which the siblings, KDA and KBCA, are now bent, the private sector members of the governing body have sent in a note which the endangered species of Karachi may wish to read:

"1) The law presently allows 'regularization' of buildings that have contravened the approved plan - the deviations of which fall within what the Regulations permit. All these can be processed immediately. Minor excursions outside the Regulations will have to be removed/eliminated so that the remainder of the structure is 'regularizable'.

"2) Before processing such action each unauthorised/illegal building/structure will have to be thoroughly examined and technically certified by Vetting Engineers of integrity for earthquake and structural-safety compliance.

"3) For the rest of the unauthorized/irregular constructions and so-called 'sealed' structures the following five steps must be taken (steps enumerated).

"4) Problems with mass and unlawful 'regularization' of illegal buildings include:

a) the illegal structures are potentially dangerous and may collapse in the next UBC Zone-2B earthquake to hit Karachi. Naturally, for a fee, numerous 'brief case' structural proof engineers will be willing to certify that individual illegal buildings are 'safe'.

b) Mass 'regularization' will establish that the government is not interested in implementing the writ of law. Further illegal construction will be promoted and will mushroom.

c) Corrupt KDA/KBCA officials will get away scot free - and will make more illegal money in the 'regularization' process.

d) Who wants 'regularization'? Who is being affected? Builders? Allegedly they run away and cannot be found to be prosecuted and punished. Allottees? They have allegedly already occupied the so-called 'sealed'/illegal buildings and obtained sub-leases, utility connections, etc. Government? The penalty monies cannot be used to pay salaries.

e) Profits on illegal buildings range from Rs.4 crores to Rs.90 crores per building. Will the so-called 'deterrent' regularization penalties be comparable? In any case, the recalcitrant illegal builders will not be affected : they will pass on the penalites to the buyers.

f) Why is the present non-political committed-to-implementation-of-the-law government allowing this dishonest issue to be 'fired from the shoulder'? How can the present government assume responsibility for the thousands of lives which could be lost in the future when such 'regularised' buildings collapse?

"5) 'Regularization' penalties are a form of 'development charges' and must only be used to upgrade the utilities and infrastructure of the localities affected by the concerned unauthorized construction. The funds cannot be diverted for any other use, particularly not towards non-development uses such as the salaries of a bloated bureaucracy.

"6) The concept of mass 'regularization' is a violation of the citizens' fundamental 'right to life' as guaranteed by the Constitution. The government cannot trample on the rights of millions of citizens to favour a few."

Stop press: Good news. As it appears in column one of page two in the Dawn of February 3, it should be believed. Headline - 'Government plans to demolish illegal buildings'. This was reportedly 'decided at a meeting held here on Friday with the provincial secretary for housing and town planning department, Qamar Zaman, in the chair.'

Those who have e-mailed me and who are worried about the cracks they have noticed in their buildings since the earthquake at the end of last month may please contact Engineer Roland deSouza of SHEHRI (telephone 5211656 and 5211542) for technical advice.