KARACHI: The ongoing demolition of the illegally constructed portions of the Jahangir Khan Sports Complex is expected to continue for some more time as some portions of the building are still not according to the approved plan, it emerged on Wednesday.

Responding to Dawn queries Sindh Building Control Authority’s official concerned said that a team of the SBCA had surveyed the sports complex a couple of days back to see the ongoing demolition of the building portions that were not in conformity with the building plan and found that the building was still not in total conformity with the plan at a few places.

He said former world squash champion Jahangir Khan had been overseeing the removal of the illegally constructed parts for the past many months and many portions of the building, which were not according to the approved plan, had already been demolished. A few days back Mr Khan had approached the SBCA asking it to inspect the building and see that if all illegally constructed portions had been demolished.

He said the SBCA team visited the sports complex on Kashmir Road and found that a few portions of the structure/ parapet walls etc of the building were still not in conformity with the approved plan, so the people present there were informed about it. He said that now after these irregularities were removed and illegal structures demolished and the SBCA was again asked to come and inspect it, its team would visit the building to see if it had been brought into total conformity with the approved building plan.

The Pakistan International Airlines had sacked Jahangir Khan and he moved court, which ordered his reinstatement. The PIA did not want him back, so after an understanding the PIA gave its squash complex, already named after the squash player, to him. The land of the complex was worth over Rs2 billion. The squash legend razed the historic squash complex, where he had won many titles, and built a huge new structure where he planned to run a sports club on a commercial basis, though the land on which it was raised was an amenity plot where no commercial activity could be carried out.

The building is in the vicinity of the mausoleum of Quaid-i-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah, where no new building may be constructed higher than the podium level of the mausoleum. The new building constructed by Jahangir Khan was higher than the prescribed height ceiling.

The SBCA kept sleeping till the media highlighted the illegal construction by Jahangir Khan in violation of the mausoleum’s sanctity related laws and then sealed the building. Court cases were instituted, one of which was withdrawn while another one is still pending. The SBCA unsealed the Jahangir Khan Sports complex and last year it advised the squash hero to bring the building in conformity with the building plan approved by the SBCA and pull down the illegally constructed parts of the building.

Following the SBCA advice, Jahangir Khan started demolition of the illegally constructed portions of the sports complex, and a couple of weeks back he had asked the SBCA to inspect the building and advise him further.

Published in Dawn, June 4th, 2015

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