01 October 2004	Friday	15 Shaban 1425

KARACHI, Sept 30: The Karachi Building Control Authority has decided to send its mobile teams to kutchi abadis for speedy disposal of regularization cases of illegal structures under its new policy.

Stating this at a briefing on Thursday, KBCA chief controller of buildings, Brig (Retd) A S Nasir, told newsmen that under the regularization policy of kutchi Abadis only ground-plus-one structures would be allowed, while multi-storey buildings would not be regularized.

He hoped that since fees for regularization of illegal buildings had now been reduced by 30 per cent, people who had constructed such buildings in planned areas as well as in kutchi Abadis would take advantage of it by submitting their applications up to Dec 31.

He said that the KBCA's kutchi Abadis cell has already taken various measures, such as physical survey of kutchi Abadis for making their profiles, coordination with local leaders and community, tree plantation campaign and cleanliness drives etc.

The cell's plan envisaged, he said, promoting cooperation with local authorities, understanding problems and priorities of residents, framing realistic building regulations, giving relaxation in COS and FAR, besides making easy the procedure for speedy disposal of regularization cases, relaxation in scrutiny and composition of fee and special awareness campaigns.

Highlighting the KBCA's role in kutchi Abadis, Brig Nasir said that the main functions of the department were to regulate town planning and building control, approve building plans and take action against unauthorised structures. However, the KBCA's role had been limited as these Abadis had been developed in the reverse cycle, adding that we had decided to increase its role in this sector in order to improve conditions in these localities.

Asked about the criteria of regularizing illegal construction in kutchi Abadis, he said that it would be same for all kutchi Abadis irrespective of the fact that on whose land such localities were situated.

About the KBCA's problems, Brig Nasir said that on one hand there was a shortage of at least 50 per cent qualified officers in the KBCA, while on the other the authority was not being backed by police when it came to taking action against illegal construction in the city.

He pointed out that 30 personnel of the KBCA's demolition squad had already sustained injuries during various demolition operations. The KBCA kutchi abadis cell's chief, Iftikhar Qaimkhani, said that though the people living in these localities would be motivated to get their illegal buildings regularized, while large scale commercial and industrial activities would be discouraged under the regularization plan.

Controller of kutchi abadis, Mohsin Khan, told newsmen that out of a total 581 building plans, which the KBCA cell had received, so far, 467 plans had been approved. About the regularization cases, he said that in all 33 such cases were received, but so far, only two of them had been regularized.

KBCA's officer on special duty, Rauf Akhtar Farooqui, city government's executive district officer, Atique Baig, and other officials of the KBCA were present on the occasion.