KARACHI, March 19: Over 4,500 applications have been received during the last 15 months by the Karachi Building Control Authority (KBCA) from builders and owners for the regularization of illegally-raised structures. The KBCA had set the deadline at March 18.

The process had begun on Dec 16, 2001 with the issuance of the Town Building Regularization and Control Ordinance-2001.

Th KBCA offices and the Civic Centre’s Allied Bank branch remained open till midnight of March 18 to issue and receive the applications.

A spokesman for the KBCA said that on the last day, 572 challans were issued. Out of them, he added, 325 challans were issued to the private schools being run in residential areas. The Authority issued more than 550 challans to the schools established in residential buildings, he said.

The issue of schools in residential buildings and areas was taken up jointly by the KBCA and the EDO (education) of the city government. It was on the EDO’s recommendation that special incentives were given to the managements of those schools which paid Rs500 as token money for getting their regularization plans scrutinized. Owners of such buildings were, however, required to furnish details of their construction plans and land documents alongwith the application after inspection, by the authorities, of the buildings in question.

About commercialization of residential buildings, the spokesman said that it was the responsibility of the lessor to declare the residential plot as ‘commercial’ and such an authority vested in the city district government’s master plan group of offices.

As far as Karachi is concerned, applications for changing the status of premises are sent to the Master Plan through concerned lessors , he explained.

He said that the facility of regularization was meant only for the buildings raised before March 2002 and the last date for submitting an application to this regard expired on Wednesday.

About the structures raised on small plots, he said that 40 per cent concession on regularization of plots measuring 60-240 square yards was given only to help poor, middle and the salaried class people.