KARACHI, Aug 11: The Captain House, a solid stone building in Saddar area which is protected under the Sindh Cultural Heritage Act, has been demolished partially while its owner, denying manual demolition, claims that the decaying old structure has started falling down.
Heritage lovers, calling various provincial authorities and Dawn, have reacted to the demolition work saying that this is the third protected building in Saddar area that has succumbed to the greed of those who have not only compromised on heritage but also on the law of the land. They wondered that the violators of law would always escape any action, arguing that this had only been encouraging others to play havoc with heritage sites without any fear. Many people, some of them having their residences or work place within the vicinity, expressed the same views when contacted by Dawn. When asked whether the structure had fallen down due to dilapidation, they revealed that labourers in a good number were seen carrying out the demolition work in the late hours during rainfall a few days back. The structure was without a ceiling and stone walls before they left before dawn, they added.
They said that the building was lying vacant for quite some time as the property had been sold out by its previous owners who probably intended to construct a high-rise at the site. Inquiries show that the solid stone building was owned by a Christian family that has sold it out recently.
According to the Sindh Cultural Heritage Act, nobody, including the owner, could demolish or carry out any kind of construction work in a building protected under the Act, which prescribes long prison terms and heavy fines on violators. Over 700 architecturally important buildings have been protected under the Act.
Since most of these pre-partition structures are located in the down town areas of the city and the land on which these structures stand have become extremely expensive, their owners have been making desperate attempts to demolish the structures in violation of the Act to pave the way for the construction of new buildings on their sites, sources in the relevant departments say.
According to them, the owners of such properties now take proper course and first manage to get these buildings declared as ‘dangerous’ and then have it demolished.
The sources said that the new owner of the Captain House, Mohammad Asif Sakaria, had also approached to the Karachi Building Control Authority for the same purpose and had managed to get it declared as ‘dangerous’ and recommended for demolition, ignoring that it’s status was ‘a protected site’.
Mr Sakaria has now informed the KBCA that his building (SB 1-82) which was recommended for demolition by the KBCA’s Dangerous Buildings Committee has fallen down due to rains and the neighbours had been asking him to demolish the structure fully to avoid any casualty.
The KBCA, after getting this report from the owner, carried out a survey and prepared a report, and was now about to seek directives from the Sindh Culture Department on whether to allow demolition of the remaining part of the building.
Meanwhile, responding to Dawn queries, the Sindh Culture Department said that the Captain House was a protected site and in the list of the protected sites, it was at number 56. The department had also dispatched a team to carryout a survey. Before the Captain House, two other protected structures – Palia House and Olympia Building – located in the same vicinity have already been demolished.
KARACHI, Aug 11: The Captain House, a solid stone building in Saddar area which is protected under the Sindh Cultural Heritage Act, has been demolished partially while its owner, denying manual demolition, claims that the decaying old structure has started falling down.
