ISLAMABAD: Contrary to the recommendations of a parliamentary committee, the city managers have decided not to allow double storey buildings in eight recognised katchi abadis in the capital, saying the buildings may collapse in case of a calamity.

There are 10 legal slums in the capital and the National Assembly Standing Committee on Cabinet Secretariat had recently directed the Capital Development Authority (CDA) to allow double story buildings in all of these recognised slums.

However, after a meeting with Member Planning Asad Mehboob Kayani, the CDA Katchi Abadi Cell decided to give permission for double storey buildings in only two of these slums- that in G-8/1 and Farash Town.

Buildings in slums will not be able to stand extra load, will be a threat to human life during natural calamities, CDA says

“The buildings in the recognised katchi abadis do not meet the requirements and according to our assessments, these buildings cannot take the extra load,” Mr Kayani said.

An official of the Planning Wing told Dawn that the member planning was told during the earlier meeting that recent visits to the katchi abadis in G-7/1, G-7/2, G-7/3-2 and F-7/4 revealed that more than 90pc of the residents had already constructed double storey units in violation of the rules and regulations, without CDA permission.

The double storey buildings will pose danger to human lives in case of a natural calamity, a CDA document says.

The document which pertains to the meeting mentioned earlier says that the width of the streets is also not enough.

The member planning said these slums were recognised at the time as they were, where buildings had been constructed without any policy or planning.

“Only two abadis, in G-7/2 and Farash Town, are properly planned,” he said, adding that CDA has decided to upgrade the remaining eight as well.

There are dozens of illegal settlements in Islamabad and so far, the CDA has not yet removed or regulated them yet.

A recent survey has revealed that there are at least 24 katchi abadis in the urban and rural parts of the city with 13,521 families consisting of 84,591 individuals residing in them. Of these, 21 of the slums are in the urban areas and the rest in the rural areas.

The National Assembly standing committee had directed the CDA to allow double storey houses in the legal katchi abadis in Islamabad in order to cater to the housing needs of lower income families.

After a CDA operation in 2015 against the illegal Afghan Basti in I-11, the Awami Workers’ Party (AWP) raised the issue of low-cost housing for slum dwellers at various forums. The party also petitioned in the Supreme Court.

“Our case has been pending for the last 14 months and the last hearing was over a year ago,” said Asim Sajjad of AWP.

He said that on the directions of the court, the CDA and the federal government were to make legislation to provide legal cover for and upgrade slums though nothing has been done in this regard yet.

Published in Dawn, May 2nd, 2018