WHILE the uncontrollable blaze that recently erupted in a supermarket in Karachi may have been put out, hardship for the residents of the affected building has just begun. Hundreds of residents of Summya Bridge Tower, the building in question, have lost their homes and possibly also their lifetime’s savings.

This whole saga, however, could have been easily prevented had proper building procedures and laws not been violated by the very agencies that have now, quite ironically, declared the building ‘unsafe’ and ‘unfit’ for habitation.

The apartment building had originally been planned as a 10-storey structure, but ended up being a 19-storey tower, and that, too, without following proper building codes. The entire 19-storey edifice was built without a single fire exit.

This is more than just criminal negligence; this is tantamount to intentionally risking or abetting potential harm to thousands of lives.

I, for one, find it quite sardonic that the building authorities would first allow the construction of a faulty building and then come around to declare it inhabitable when a life-threatening incident occurs, without offering the hapless residents any assistance or alternative in terms of accommodation.

The case of the ill-fated Nasla Tower, demolished on court orders, is also a pertinent example in this regard. If the building violated codes or rules, why wasn’t its construction stopped in time, instead of waiting for the citizens to buy and build homes and then kicking them all out with the stroke of a pen?

When the Margalla Towers in Islamabad had collapsed during the earthquake in 2005, the Capital Development Authority (CDA) had not only provided alternative housing for more than a year, but had also compensated the families for their losses. However, the building authorities in Sindh appear too wrapped up in their own schemes to care about troubled lives.

Ali Ashraf Khan
Karachi

Published in Dawn, June 11th, 2022