November 08, 2006	Wednesday	Shawwal 15, 1427

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LAHORE, Nov 7: Gross violations of building bylaws will be dealt with at the provincial level whereas those of minor nature by the local authorities to ensure uniform checking of construction of dangerous high-rises. And more importantly the influence, political or otherwise, that the violators wield will be nipped.

The decision to the effect has been taken in view of the alleged connivance of the local building staffs who more often than not succumb to the influence of the violators.

“Both these factors have been the root-cause of the mushroom growth of illegal high-rises in the province and the government has now decided to eliminate them,” official sources informed Dawn on Tuesday.

In order to figure out the violations, they said, the government had recently ordered a secret survey of all the high-altitude buildings in big cities. The report of Murree had already been received indicating the appearance of over 100 illegally-constructed buildings, mainly hotels, they revealed.

They said according to the decision the district governments or tehsil administrations would decide the cases in which up to 25 per cent violations had been committed and settle them through fines. While the cases having over 25 per cent violations would be referred to the provincial High-Level Design Committee (HLDC) for a decision over and above the local pressures. The penalty could include demolition of the buildings with the help of the police.

Sources said the survey of all buildings was ordered a month ago and the report about Murree, one of the major flashpoints, disclosed that all the illegal structures had been built with the connivance or slackness of the officials concerned. Political influence and the power of the pelf turned out to be the chief culprits in this case too.

Meanwhile, the officials were conducting a similar survey of Lahore, another important city as regards the high-rises, and it would be completed shortly, they said.

The officials said the government intended to enforce the building laws irrespective of the status of the violators to ensure safety of the life and property of the people. The violators would have to pay fine or bear demolition of their illegal buildings, they warned.

According to them, the district-level HLDCs would approve high-rise commercial buildings. These would be headed by DCOs and comprise nazims and technical people. The district government or tehsil administration concerned would approve the plans of residential buildings.