RAWALPINDI, Dec 23: Different bodies functioning under the federal and provincial governments have finally reached the conclusion that the Rawalpindi Cantonment Board (RCB) is the only authority which should handle the affairs of Gakhar Plaza, therefore, it has asked the owner of plaza to demolish forthwith the remaining portion of the building which has been declared dangerous by the experts.

Dawn learnt from credible sources that a notice had been sent to the owner of the plaza, Raja Shahid Zafar, under the provision of the relevant sections of the Cantonment Act 1924.

It may be recalled that Shahid Zafar has already expressed his willingness to undertake the work in case no authority takes the responsibility in this regard.

Visits of high-ranking officials to the Gakhar Plaza site have now come to an end, signaling that the chapter is now closed for them. No official was seen at the site on Tuesday.

Rescue 1122 has completed its operation following the recovery of its four missing rescuers, who were killed during the rescue efforts. The director-general of the Punjab Emergency Service has also returned to his headquarters in Lahore.

Removal of debris has also stopped and the fleet of earth-moving machinery provided by FWO, Bahria Town, District Government and other organisations are no more visible at the site.

In the meantime, Raja Shahid Zafar has established contacts with the architect who designed the building, and issued him instructions to initiate redesigning of the Gakhar Plaza.

Mr Zafar told Dawn that his top priority would be to resettle the shopkeepers so that they could not only be able to earn bread and butter but also enable thousands of employees to run their kitchens. “In fact, the plaza was the source of earning bread for me too,” he said.

According to information obtained by government agencies involved in the rescue operation, the lease of the land on which Gakhar Plaza was constructed, is in the name of Raja Shahid Zafar, Raja Mujahid Zafar and Raja Bilal Zafar.

The RCB approved the building plan having ground plus four floors in January 1982. The plan showed two general toilets and four exit points on each floor, while two floors were designed for offices. The provided data shows the numbers of shops increased year by year from 160 in 1992 to 485 in 2007.

The popularity of Gakhar Plaza can be gauged from the fact that hundreds of people have started to visit the Bank Road to see the ruins of the plaza where they had shopped. Though the area has been cordoned off, people gathered to have a glimpse of the collapsed and standing portions of the gutted building.

Christmas and New Year shopping has been badly affected after the Gakhar Plaza tragedy. However, Singapore Plaza, Zarkoon Plaza and other shopping centres located at the entrance of Bank Road have now become the shoppers’ paradise. Traffic jams and parking of vehicles around the shopping centres and the fast food outlet have become a big challenge for the traffic wardens.

Except for the entire block of Gakhar Plaza, the rest of the shops on Bank Road opened on Tuesday.