December 15, 2008	Monday	Zilhaj 16, 1429

KARACHI, Dec 14: The Karachi Building Control Authority has shelved a plan to allow construction of 100-storey or above high-rise buildings “anywhere in the metropolis”, as it is now looking for specific zones where it could allow construction of at least 40-storey or above buildings, Dawn has learnt.

About five months back, Local Government Minister Agha Siraj Durrani, who is the ‘authority’ for the KBCA, had approved a KBCA plan to allow construction of 100-storey or above high-rise buildings anywhere in the city and announced in a press conference that the government would table a bill in the provincial assembly to make a special law for high density development in Karachi, because existing laws did not permit the KBCA to allow construction of such high-rise buildings.

According to the proposed plan, a builder could construct a 100-storey-plus building at any commercial plot, measuring a minimum of 5,000 square yards. There is no bar on amalgamation of plots and the high-rise buildings could be constructed ‘anywhere in the city’ provided the plot is located on a minimum of a 100-ft wide road.

The plan was, however, in contravention to the city government’s vision as envisaged in its Karachi Strategic Development Plan (KSDP 2020), which promotes taller buildings in specific areas and in selected new urban centres and restricts them from being built in a sporadic manner all across the city. According to the KSDP, “the high rise developments should be designed in a coordinated manner with a mix of uses including a variety of housing types, good connectivity to public transit and well planned vehicular, pedestrian and open space systems to ensure that they become desirable places to live and work”.

Strong criticism

Sources said that strong criticism from other stakeholders, including the private sector and town planners, forced the KBCA to drop its earlier plan to allow such buildings without the limitation of any area in the city.

“Initially, we wanted to frame the building regulation for entire Karachi [within the KBCA’s jurisdiction]. But after holding a series of meetings with professional bodies and experts we found that we cannot allow construction of high-rise buildings in the entire city,” KBCA’s chief controller Manzoor Qadir told Dawn. “It was a consensus view that we need specific zones for the construction of 40-storey or above buildings.”

He said that after the consultation, the Sindh government formed a committee comprising town planners and senior architect so that they could meet and identify specific zones to give the city a new skyline. “The committee has almost finalised its recommendations and soon it will submit them to the government,” said Mr Qadir.

The sources said that the KBCA and the committee also consulted various departments of the city government including Master Plan, Works and Services and the Karachi Water and Sewerage Board before finalising its recommendation regarding identification of new zones where construction of 40-storey or above high-rise buildings is feasible.

Mr Qadir said that the coordination of all stakeholders, including the city government, was necessary for the planning of high-rise buildings. “The high-rise buildings could not be constructed until we have a modern fire fighting system, water supply and efficient sewerage system etc.”

New skyline

The chief controller defended the construction of high-rise buildings because he felt that it would give a new skyline to the city and would give a boost to the construction industry, while on the other hand save cost of infrastructure, catering to the needs of off-street parking and cost of land. The high-rise buildings utilised less land area and leave more open spaces for landscaping and parks.

A couple of weeks ago, the KBCA’s chief controller gave a presentation to Sindh Governor Dr Ishratul Ebad, the LG minister and the city nazim at a meeting held at the Governor’s House. According to the presentation, the allowable floor area ratio (FAR) for the construction of a future high-rise building project would be 1:12 and above against the present 1:5.5 FAR for 1,000 sq-yd plots.

The meeting was informed that the sponsors of future high-rise projects shall arrange self generation of electricity, self sufficient sewerage treatment and its disposal and adequate water supply for the project in order to avoid any pressure on the existing infrastructure. The Environment Impact Assessment of all such projects shall be mandatory, besides provision of fire fighting as per international standards.

The participants of the meeting had asked the chief controller about areas where he wanted to enforce the new building regulation with regard to high density projects, to which the KBCA chief sought more time to furnish full details in the next meeting. However, due to preoccupation of the governor and other authorities concerned, the meeting on the subject could not be held yet.

Mr Qadir told Dawn that once the committee identifies new zones, its recommendations would be submitted to the government. Then a bill would be tabled before the Sindh Assembly to enable legislation for allowing high density development in Karachi.