KARACHI, Sept 2: The Sindh government, which seems to be in haste to go ahead with its project of building a new provincial assembly hall, has not taken the mandatory permissions from its various departments, it is learnt.
The government plans to build the over Rs620 million new assembly complex – comprising ground plus upper floors building having the assembly hall, chambers for the speaker, the deputy speaker, etc – on the premises of the historic Sindh assembly building, which is protected under the Sindh Cultural Heritage Protection Act.
The foundation stone, along with the plaque having names of all the assembly members, was laid at the site, in the backyard of the assembly, by the chief minister and the assembly speaker on Friday.
Sources said nobody, including the owner, could carry out any construction at a site protected under the act before getting a mandatory NOC from the Advisory Committee on Cultural Heritage, headed by the chief secretary.
They said as the assembly building was a protected place, getting an NOC was a must before any work could be started there, and added that the violation of the act attracted long prison terms and heavy fines. The government had not yet obtained the mandatory NOC from the advisory committee, they added.
The sources said that even before constructing any building on any land in the city, the building plan had to be approved by the Karachi Building Control Authority. The building plan for the new assembly building had not yet been approved by the KBCA, the sources added.
Responding to questions, a member of the advisory committee on cultural heritage, Dr Kalimullah Lashari, said that any building plan for the construction of the new assembly building had not yet been presented before the advisory committee.
He said he was not even aware of the new assembly building and had come to know of it through the newspapers on Saturday morning. He said the NOC was required before the start of the work, so probably the building plan would be submitted for consideration in due course of time, before the actual construction began.
He said that it was safer to submit the plans soon to avoid complications at a later stage. He, however, said he could not even think that the legislature could even think of breaking its own made laws.
Answering questioning, KBCA Building Controller Agha Maqsood Abbas said the building plans had not yet been submitted to the KBCA so the question of the plans of being approved or not did not arise. After the plans had been submitted, they would be processed and if they met the KBCA requirements, they would be approved.
He also was of the view that the approval was required before the start of the construction. He said as the existing assembly building was a protected site under the cultural heritage protection act, the Sindh Culture Department would also call a report from the KBCA on the issue. The department had also not sought any report on the issue from the KBCA, he added.
The sources said it was possible that both the SCD and the KBCA would not approve the plans so it was safer to get the mandatory approvals before the project was started, but by laying the foundation stone the government seemed to go ahead with the project whether or not it got the required NOCs.
They said this was not the first case of the government, or its organs, violating the conservation laws -- the Rangers had constructed two huge buildings in its temporary headquarters in the Jinnah Courts, the National Academy of Performing Arts (NAPA) was constructing a huge building in the Hindu Gymkhana, the deputy speaker had also carried out construction in her assembly chamber.
The sources said that it was only once that the government had to take back its decision. In the early 1990s, the then prime minister had laid the foundation stone of the foreign-funded Indus Highway, which was to pass through the Khirthar National Park, starting from the Super Highway. The conservationists made a hue and cry and the foreign donors stopped funding and the highway project was rerouted outside the park.
Despite repeated attempts, the chief of the committee responsible for the construction of the new assembly building and Sindh minister Syed Sardar Ahmed could not be contacted for their version.
Answering questions, a senior architect and member of the Advisory Committee on Cultural Heritage, Arif Hassan, said the plans for the new assembly building had not yet been submitted to the committee.
He said the plans should have been submitted earlier so that they could have been discussed in the committee to decide if the NOC could be given. He said it was surprising that even the foundation stone had been laid without getting the mandatory NOC, without which the project could not be implemented.
