KARACHI, Oct 19: The fast-track construction of the Jehangir Khan Sports Club on an amenity plot, where earlier stood the PIA’s squash complex on Kashmir Road, is shrouded in mystery. None of the relevant government departments seems to be updated on it, neither is any record of it available, it emerged on Saturday.

At least four government departments are involved here: the Pakistan International Airlines, which handed over the land and the squash complex to Jehangir Khan; the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation, which is the owner of the land and leases it out to individuals and organisations; the Sindh Building Control Authority, which regulates construction in the province; and the Quaid-i-Azam Mazar Management Board, which is supposed to ensure that the height of buildings in the vicinity remains below the mausoleum’s podium.

Living squash legend Jehangir Khan, the central figure behind the under-construction sports complex club who is charging Rs525,000 as a membership fee, said he was too busy to make comments on the matter.

The membership drive is on and in the past couple of weeks over 250 members have reportedly been registered, while almost half that number have been disallowed on the ground that they were not “sophisticated and cultured enough”, said the person handling the membership matters at the club.

As this reporter followed the story, interesting facts surfaced, first of which is the acquisition of over two-and-a-half acres, valued at over Rs2 billon.

Jehangir Khan worked at the PIA which curtailing its sporting activities “retired” him. Mr Khan won reinstatement through the services tribunal. The PIA still did not want him back so it moved the superior court and Mr Khan also moved the relevant forum for the implementation of the tribunal decision. While the issue was under litigation, the PIA and Mr Khan reached a “compromise” and the airline rather than giving back Mr Khan his job and dues agreed to hand him over for 25 years its sports icon (which already was named after the player) — PIA Jehangir Khan Squash Complex — a valuable asset whose land alone was worth over Rs2 billion. The tenure, if mutually agreed, was extendable. Otherwise the PIA would pay the amount spent by Mr Khan on it under the agreement. Both parties withdrew the cases.

Responding to Dawn queries from where the PIA had obtained the land and if it could hand its asset over to an employee, a PIA spokesperson, after looking through the records for many days, said he could only confirm that the PIA had given the land and squash complex “on the orders from above” to Jehangir Khan through court. He, however, could not say from where the PIA had got the land or he could not offer any other comment on the issue. There was no record available with the PIA on the issue, he added.

After getting the land the hitch came when the sportsperson went to get approval for construction from the building controllers as the proposed building would have violated the Quaid Mazar’s height restriction imposed in the vicinity. Even the old building was nine feet higher than the height ceiling, but since it had been constructed before the restriction was imposed, it was not disturbed. But after height restriction was implemented if a new building was to be constructed, it would have to follow the new law. As the permission for the required height could not be given, to accommodate the sportsman he was advised to make another application and on that he was given approval for “addition/ alteration/ renovation” while maintaining the skyline of the old building.

This permission could be valid if the old ground-plus-one-floor building — having a covered area of 30,524 square feet — was not disturbed, but to make room for the new ground-plus-two-floor building — having a covered area of 230,000 square feet — the old building where many squash-related historical events had taken place was razed and the new building constructed which rather than meeting the height restriction was said to be higher than the old structure.

Besides this one page “addition/ alteration/ renovation” approval, no other documents are available with the building controllers as the file is said to have gone missing. A building controller eventually went to the club site and asked for the approval and relevant documents, which should be available at the site all the time for building controllers to check and verify the construction, nothing was available. A letter was issued to the club asking it to show the documents, but they had not been shown to the building controller, said the building controller concerned.

When Dawn approached the KMC to check the record of the land, no record was available and the KMC spokesperson said that the land was an amenity plot where no commercial activities could be carried out. It was with the PIA, but no record was available with the KMC or KDA. A letter was issued to the club to present the land ownership/ lease etc record a few days back, but it (record) has not yet been delivered to the KMC, he added.

Quaid-i-Azam Mazar Management Board official Mohammad Arif was not aware of the new building. After checking the record, he said it was within the height restriction zone and the allowable height at the plot was 19 feet from ground while the old building was nine feet higher than the restricted height but was not disturbed as it was built before the restriction was imposed. But if the old building was demolished and a new one was constructed, it should be only 19 feet high, he said, adding that he would approach the relevant department — KMC, SBCA, etc — for a report on the issue.

This reporter visited the club and found that the entire new building was constructed on a three-floor basement to be used as a car park. The building itself was ground-plus-two upper floors. At least one of the halls, probably to be used for badminton etc, on the second floor had a roof 15 to 20 feet high. The presence of the basement, which was not in the old building, proves that the old building was razed after which the basement was constructed and the new building built on it.

The family membership fee for the club is Rs500,000 and Rs25,000 is security deposit. The monthly fee is Rs2,500 and most of the sports facilities — swimming, tennis, badminton, squash, library, gymnasiums, etc — would be available free, while for other facilities — a cinema, bakery, dining hall, beauty parlour, salon, massage room, rooftop restaurant, etc — payments would have to be made.

Over 250 members have already been registered, suggesting that over Rs131 million has been generated. The club with a few games/ facilities is likely to be ready within the next six months, while the rest of the facilities would become operational later.

When Dawn approached sports icon Jehangir Khan for a meeting at a time of his convenience the next day or even later, he asked about the purpose of the meeting. When told that it was related to his sports complex on Kashmir Road, he said he was very busy and had prior engagements/ meetings and could not meet the next day, after which he would be busy meeting relatives and friends during the Eid holidays, soon after which he was scheduled to go abroad.