March 26, 2008	Wednesday	Rabi-ul-Awwal 17, 1429

KARACHI, March 25: Water and sewerage connections of a number of housing complexes lacking firefighting equipment and emergency exit facilities were severed and the buildings were sealed in a joint action launched by the Karachi Building Control Authority and Karachi Water and Sewerage Board on Tuesday.

The campaign was initiated on the directives of City Nazim Syed Mustafa Kamal a couple of weeks after the warning given to the owners and builders of over 2,500 highrises that water and sewerage connections of the buildings would be severed and strict action would be initiated against them if they did not ensure provision of firefighting equipments and emergency exit passages.

In Gulshan-i-Iqbal Town, the authorities cut off water and sewerage connections of projects on Plot No D-32 and 33, Al-Hilal Society, opposite Askari Park; and Plot No 2, Block-3, CP Berar Society.

The KBCA has again warned the owners, builders and residents’ associations of highrise buildings to immediately install firefighting equipment and restore emergency exits.

However, the repeated warnings and the drive launched by the authorities against highrise residential and commercial buildings seem to have failed to yield any positive result as the highrise owners have yet to install firefighting equipment in the buildings and restore their emergency exits.

According to a KBCA spokesperson, action is being initiated against all those highrises (ground-plus-four and above storied buildings), industries and hospitals, which have not installed firefighting equipment and restored emergency exit staircases on the premises of their buildings as the deadline fixed by the KBCA for the provision of such facilities had already expired.

KBCA’s move ‘unjust’

The office-bearers of residents’ associations of a number of highrise residential buildings and complexes, however, have described the KBCA’s move as ‘unjust’ and ‘uncalled for’. They said such an action on the part of the KBCA would amount to punishing the residents and not the builders concerned.

“In fact, it was the sole responsibility of the KBCA to ensure the builders provide firefighting equipment and emergency exit staircases in their highrise residential and commercial buildings before they got completion certificates in favour of their projects and also prior to the occupation of such highrise buildings by the allottees,” they said.

Expressing surprise over the KBCA’s plans, they said the authority intended to take action against the allottees of the projects by severing their buildings’ water and sewerage connections instead of compelling builders to provide the required facilities.

They were of the view that the KBCA could force the defaulting builders to provide firefighting equipments and emergency exit staircases in highrise residential and commercial projects by withholding the NOC (No-objection certificates) of their new housing/commercial projects till they ensure installation of such facilities in their sold-out projects. Besides, they said that the government could declare such builders blacklisted to ensure provision of requisite facilities.

However, they said, it seemed as if the building control authority was bent upon punishing the allottees by severing the water and sewerage connections of their buildings for no fault of theirs.

They hoped that the KBCA would review its ‘anti-allottees policy’ and focus its attention towards penalising the builders and officials concerned for not ensuring provision of firefighting equipment and emergency exit passages in the highrises prior to their occupation by allottees.