KARACHI: Culture dept asks KBCA to explain: Illegal construction in Duarte Mansion
By Bhagwandas
KARACHI, June 14: The Karachi Building Control Authority is not providing accurate information to the Sindh Culture Department regarding illegal construction in Duarte Mansion, it is learnt.
According to sources, Duarte Mansion located at Lucky Star in Saddar is a building protected under the Sindh Cultural Heritage Protection Act. Nobody, including its owner, can carry out any construction within the protected building without prior permission from the Advisory Committee of Cultural Heritage headed by the provincial chief secretary. Violators could be awarded long prison terms and awarded heavy fines under the act.
The sources said that though the advisory committee had not given permission for any new construction in Duarte Mansion, the same had been carried out on over 21,000 square feet — ground plus four floors — of the site.
The sources said that the committee, on a request from the owner, had allowed that only those steps be taken — such as the raising of pillars and columns — that were absolutely necessary to strengthen the facade. The KBCA was directed to supervize the process.
However, after some time, one of the private members of the advisory committee detected that construction other than the strengthening of the facade had been carried out in the protected building, and permission for which had not been granted by the committee.
The advisory committee, on receiving the information from a member, sought report from the KBCA and asked it to fix responsibility as to who had committed the illegal act. The report also asked whether the KBCA had given permission for the construction work or not and how construction on such a massive scale had been carried out within the facade.
KBCA chief, Dr Zafar Ahmad Malik, in his reply to the SCD communication, said: “A permission was issued by the KBCA for strengthening of the old facade/stone heritage wall of Duarte Mansion in the first phase vide letter no: KBCA/KDA/DCB- XVII/2002/254 dated Aug 1, 2000, with certain conditions that approval/permission for the rest of the plot in the second phase can be considered after the execution of the first phase and after completing all formalities/requirements.
“Presently, at the site, the facade exists in its original condition and no work is in progress. The construction/covered area at the site is as follows: Ground floor 5,554 sq ft; first floor 5,554 sq ft; second floor 4,511 sq ft; third floor 3,461 sq ft and fourth floor 2,366 sq ft,” the KBCA chief adds.
The KBCA has not fixed responsibility on anybody. It also failed to mention who had given the permission for the work and who were the KBCA officials who looked the other way while construction work was going on.
The sources said that permission had been given by the KBCA Controller of Buildings, Badar Salam Beg, who has since been terminated from service owing to his involvement in another case. His deputy, Iqbal Aziz, who should have ensured that no illegal construction is carried on, still serves on the same post.
The KBCA, in its bid to save its officials, has not mentioned the names of any of its officers who were responsible for giving permission or not stopping the work that was being carried out without permission.
