January 18, 2008	Friday	Muharram 08, 1429

ISLAMABAD, Jan 17: The Supreme Court on Thursday reprimanded the Lahore Development Authority (LDA) for delaying corrective measures against high-rise buildings erected in contravention of bylaws and ordered it to group such buildings into categories.

A three-member bench comprising Justice Faqir Mohammad Khokhar, Justice Mohammad Akhtar Shabbir and Justice Syed Sakhi Hussain Bukhari also suggested the restructuring of the LDA by appointing qualified structure engineers.

The apex court was hearing a petition filed by Farooq Hameed against environmental hazards posed by high-rise buildings which, according to him, were built in violation of building bylaws.

The case was previously taken up by a pre-PCO Supreme Court bench headed by Justice Khalil-ur-Rehman Ramday. It had ordered the demolition of a number of buildings in the city. The bench had also suspended four officials of the LDA for ignoring the construction of a 10-storey Masood Hospital, despite a stay order against construction of multi-storey buildings in the city.

A commission on high-rise buildings had been formed on the orders of the apex court to look into violations of building bylaws. The commission had appealed to the citizens through an advertisement to inform it about any violation.

The LDA has no structure engineer to check, supervise or ensure the structural stability of buildings.

On Thursday, commission chairman Justice (retd) Riaz Kiani informed the court that the commission had examined 417 buildings and found that many of them had been built in contravention of building rules.

Advocate A.K. Dogar, the counsel representing a three-storey commercial building on Beden Road in Lahore, argued that the court had no right to initiate suo motu hearing against buildings after a general survey.

He appealed to the court to regularise all such buildings constructed in violation of laws after imposing penalties.

Senator Babar Awan, representing structure engineers, informed the court that defects and flaws in several buildings in Lahore were results of the work done by designers and architects.

Justice Faqir Khokhar expressed displeasure over a delay by the LDA in proceeding against violators of the bylaws and asked its director general what had he done so far apart from issuing show-cause notices to the violators.