KARACHI: Historical sandstone building being razed: Heritage sacrificed for high-rise
By Bhagwandas
KARACHI, Sept 18: A building that is protected under the Sindh Cultural Heritage Protection Act is being demolished gradually although it has been sealed off more than once by the Karachi Building Control Authority, it is learnt reliably. According to sources, there is some confusion about the actual name of the building. While the list of protected buildings identifies it as ‘Beaufort Building’, the building itself carries a plaque, inscribed with the name ‘Bandookwala Building’, at its main entrance. The impressive sandstone building has been partially demolished.
According to sources, owner of the building, located opposite the Habib Bank Plaza on I. I. Chundrigar Road, intends to sell it to a public sector financial institution but the potential buyers are not ready to demolish the protected building on their own as this might land them in trouble.
The sources claimed that the new party intended to construct a high-rise on the 2,000-square-yard piece of land and for the purpose, it had asked the present owner to get the old structure demolished. The land, according to a conservative estimate, is valued at over Rs1 billion.
Nobody, including the owner, can demolish or destroy a building that is protected under the Act which prescribes long prison terms and heavy fines for violators. A prior permission from the Advisory Committee, headed by chief secretary, is required for carrying out any construction work in such a building.
The Karachi Building Control Authority, which is supposed to monitor and check violation of building laws and the Sindh Cultural Heritage Protection Act, has not been able as yet to prevent the demolition process, although it has issued notices to the concerned party and also sealed off the building more than once.
S. A. Samad Khan, an advocate who has been keeping his office in the building for 50 years now on a rent basis, told Dawn on Thursday said that for the past five/six years the owner, Mr Habibullah, had been forcing the tenants to vacate the premises. He confirmed that the demolition work was going on at the site.
The sources claimed that the demolition work was usually carried out on holidays apparently to make sure that the activity was going on unnoticed. Till some time back, there were about 10 tenants occupying different portions of the building but eight of them have already gone.
The two tenants still there are the advocate and a travel agent, according to the sources, who added that the structures on the vacated portions had already been demolished.
“There is an interesting story to tell about how the building had been purchased in mid-1960s… the details may be of interest to the National Accountability Bureau,” the sources said.
The attractive gate and a portion of the arcade of the building’s façade have been demolished in the past few days, they said, pointing out that some conservationists, along with a group of children and concerned citizens, had cleaned up this beautiful piece of architecture a few months back with a view to save the heritage building from dilapidation or let dust, garbage, rubbish and other such things render the structure unattractive.
The owner, however, seems to be unmindful of its preservation as he has opted for demolishing this architectural gem, according to the sources.
Responding to the Dawn’s queries, KBCA’s Building Controller Munir A. Bhambhro said that when it transpired that the building was still being demolished despite being sealed off first, the KBCA again sealed it off on Thursday.
He said that the first letter against the demolition of the heritage building, standing on plot number 4/2-RY-5, Railway Quarters, had been issued to the owner on the first day of this month.
It read: “It has been observed that you have started demolition of existing structures of the heritage building without obtaining a permission from the authority/culture heritage department. You are hereby directed to stop demolition of the old structure and the heritage building forthwith failing which the same shall be sealed off by the authority at your expanse.”
Mr Bhambhro said that when the directive had not been complied with, the building had been sealed off on Sept 5. The letter to this effect told the owner: “If the seal is found broken by any person/persons he/they shall be punished under Sindh Building Control Ordinance or any other panel action permissible under the law.”
The Karachi Building Control Authority official said that on Sept 15, another re-sealing order had been issued.
