Police and paramilitary Rangers on Thursday resorted to baton-charge and fired tear gas on residents and builders protesting outside Karachi's Nasla Tower — a 15-storey residential building located at the intersection of Sharea Faisal and Shahrah-i-Quaideen — against the building's demolition on Supreme Court's orders.

The apex court has directed authorities to raze the building for encroaching on land meant for a service road. The protest was being organised by the Association of Builders and Developers of Pakistan (Abad).

Earlier, Abad Chairman Mohsin Sheikhani had said that the association would be halting all projects in Karachi. He had claimed that despite getting approvals from government agencies, the documents stood "null and void". He had also requested the government to inform the association who the "final authority" was for seeking building approvals.

In a statement, Karachi police spokesperson Shazia Jehan said that protesters attempted to block Sharea Faisal and officials were trying to stop them. She said that police officials tried to speak to protesters as they moved forward on the main artery in an attempt to get them to disperse.

"Officials resorted to baton-charge after protesters blocked the road and interfered with the work of public servants," she said. The police spokesperson said that no one was injured as officials cleared the road of protesters, adding that it was later opened for traffic.

She said that protesters were provided a separate place to stage their demonstration and were told to remain clear of Nasla Tower. The spokesperson said that officials and the city administration were talking to the protesters, adding that work on demolishing the building was underway.

SSP (East) Qamar Raza Jiskani told Dawn that the protestors allegedly tried to take the law into their own hands and attempted to block Sharea Faisal near Nursery roundabout.

“The police and paramilitary force took action and dispersed the crowd,” the senior officer said, adding that no one was arrested. He also hinted at the possibility of lodging an FIR against the protesters.

Meanwhile, traffic remained suspended on the main artery that links the city with the airport and the national highway.

Speaking to DawnNews after the incident, the Abad chairman decried the use of force against the protesters and claimed that at least 20 to 25 people were injured in the incident. He said that they were staging a peaceful protest when the whole "drama" started.

"They baton-charged us, hit people and used tear gas," Sheikhani said, adding that the business community staging the protest had wanted to communicate its point of view through a peaceful demonstration.

When asked about any talks or assurance by the government, he replied that no talks had been held and neither had they received any kind of assurance. "[Instead] they are hitting people [...] I don't know what they want."

He called for the government to take initiative and devise a policy regarding the matter and "regularise things".

Sheikhani added that if the matter was not resolved and things continued the way they were, businessmen would be compelled to shift their operations elsewhere.

Demolition orders of Nasla Tower

On June 16, a three-judge SC bench, presided by Chief Justice of Pakistan Gulzar Ahmed, had initially ordered the demolition of the 15-storey building for encroaching on the land meant for a service road.

Issuing a detailed order for the same on June 19, the court had also directed the builders of Nasla Tower to refund the amount to the registered buyers of residential and commercial units within three months.

Later, the builder of Nasla Tower had filed a review petition against the June 16 order, which was dismissed by the apex court last month.

On Oct 25, the SC had directed the city commissioner to demolish Nasla Tower through "controlled blasting" within a week and submit a report. Companies were subsequently told to submit their respective demolition costs until two were shortlisted.

Subsequently, the district administration served notices to the residents of Nasla Tower earlier in October, directing them to vacate the 15-storey building by Oct 27 or face coercive action by relevant authorities. By Oct 28, almost all families had vacated their respective apartments.

The city administration had then sought directions of the apex court to finalise the demolition of Nasla Tower as one firm sought Rs220 million for razing the high-rise via controlled implosion while the other offered free-of-cost service via mechanical means.

Earlier this week, pre-demolition work began on the doomed high-rise after the apex court chastised the Karachi commissioner over his failure to carry out orders to raze Nasla Tower.

Earlier today, the CJP directed the Karachi commissioner to demolish the tower within a week.