KARACHI, Dec 6: The Sindh High Court directed the chief secretary on Thursday to constitute a committee to bar the sanction of utility connections to unauthorised structures raised in violation of the building rules and regulations.

The chief secretary should convene a meeting of the officials of the Karachi Water and Sewerage Board, the Karachi Electric Supply Corporation, the Sui Southern Gas Pipeline Company, the Pakistan Telecommunication Corporation and other agencies involved in sanctioning utility connections to under-construction or newly-constructed buildings, a division bench observed while hearing a petition against repeated gross violations of rules and court orders by an offending builder.

The bench, which consisted of Justices Munib Ahmed Khan and Rana M. Shamim, remarked that every third petition in the high court pertained to unlawful constructions alleging dereliction of duty or outright corruption on the part of the Karachi Building Control Authority.

A lasting solution should be found to the problem facing the KBCA in enforcing the building rules and complying with judicial orders to save the court’s time. A way out was to bar the grant of utility connections to under-construction or newly-built structures without a no-objection certificate from the KBCA. This would facilitate the enforcement of building codes.

In the instant case before the bench, a builder had raised three additional floors on plot number Lee 3/26, Lea Market, Lyari Quarters, and covered the mandatory open space despite repeated notices by the KBCA and orders by the court, including sealing and attachment of the premises. A KBCA deputy controller of buildings suspected of complicity was on Thursday found innocent as he was not posted in Lyari during the unauthorised construction.

The bench asked the KBCA to find out the real culprit and dismiss him from service. A non-bailable warrant was issued for the production of the offending builder, who had allegedly been evading court appearance with the help of the police. The town police officer was asked to execute the warrant and appear on Dec 13, the next date, along with the station house officer.

KBCA chief controller Rauf Akhtar Farooqui appeared in person in response to a court order and stated that the authority suffered from lack of enforcement powers and staff. It was short of demolition machinery and personnel. Police seldom came to its rescue in eviction or demolition operations. Other utility providers were not interested in whether the building being sanctioned connections was duly authorised by the KBCA. The KBCA had no police or magisterial powers to enforce the building rules.

Ninety per cent of violations, the chief controller of buildings said, could be checked if the police and utilities co-operated with the KBCA. The utilities should be barred from giving connections and property registrars from recording lease documents without no-objection certificates by the authority. It would be impossible for builders to sell or lease out commercial and residential properties to innocent purchasers without utility connections. The unauthorised structures would be uninhabitable without utilities and the builders would not be able to create a third party interest to evade their own responsibility. The unnecessary workload on the KBCA and the courts would be greatly reduced, the CCOB said.

Rs100,000 penalty