Foreign firm shows interest in controlled blast of Karachi's Nasla Tower

Published November 2, 2021
A view of the Nasla Tower in Karachi. — Online/File
A view of the Nasla Tower in Karachi. — Online/File

KARACHI: No decision was taken on Monday on the modalities of demolition of Nasla Tower in Karachi on Supreme Court’s order as four out of five companies submitted their respective bids for manual demolition of the 15-storey building while a foreign firm offered to raze it via a controlled implosion blast.

Sources said that a meeting of the eight-member committee for demolition of Nasla Tower was convened at the office of the deputy commissioner (DC) of district East and discussed at length the bids and proposals furnished by four local and one foreign firms and the method and date of demolition of the tower.

Talking to Dawn, DC Asif Jan Siddiqui said that the committee deliberated upon the bids and decided to call the bidding companies on Wednesday (tomorrow) to take their respective presentations on the method and the time required for demolition. “We will definitely adopt the safest method for razing the building,” he added.

The committee was formed by Commissioner Iqbal Memon for awarding the contract with the DC-East as its head.

Four local companies have also applied for manual demolition of the 15-storey building

An offer of expression of interest was published in leading newspapers about demolishing the 15-storey residential building in the safest and quickest manner. The offer was issued by the Karachi Commissioner’s office.

The residential project Nasla Tower is built over 1,121 square yards on Plot No193-A in the Sindh Muslim Cooperative Housing Society or SMCHS at Sharea Faisal.

Experts said that a controlled detonation was not viable as it might also collapse the Nursery flyover, adjacent buildings and water and other utility pipelines.

Besides, they said, a controlled detonation was not possible because the building was located in a densely populated area with a heavy traffic flow.

According to the experts, the facility of detonation operation available in the country is used for mountains but “applause theory” was required to demolish Nasla Tower and such a facility is not available in Pakistan.

They said that the detonation blast was mostly used in mountainous areas.

Earlier, the Supreme Court Registry has issued a written verdict in the Nasla Tower case, ordering that controlled modern devices be used to demolish the high-rise building and ensure that there was no further damage to the sides during the demolition.

The court order said that this work should be completed in one week and the procedure prevailing in other countries for demolition of buildings should be observed.

The apex court also ordered that the cost of demolition of the building should be borne by the owner of Nasla Tower and if the owner did not pay, the commissioner should sell the land.

On Oct 26, the utility connections of Nasla Tower were disconnected on the orders of the Supreme Court.

Earlier on June 16, the apex court had rejected the builder’s request for review of the court order to demolish the Nasla Tower and ordered the demolition of the building.

Published in Dawn, November 2nd, 2021

Opinion

Editorial

Judiciary’s SOS
Updated 28 Mar, 2024

Judiciary’s SOS

The ball is now in CJP Isa’s court, and he will feel pressure to take action.
Data protection
28 Mar, 2024

Data protection

WHAT do we want? Data protection laws. When do we want them? Immediately. Without delay, if we are to prevent ...
Selling humans
28 Mar, 2024

Selling humans

HUMAN traders feed off economic distress; they peddle promises of a better life to the impoverished who, mired in...
New terror wave
Updated 27 Mar, 2024

New terror wave

The time has come for decisive government action against militancy.
Development costs
27 Mar, 2024

Development costs

A HEFTY escalation of 30pc in the cost of ongoing federal development schemes is one of the many decisions where the...
Aitchison controversy
Updated 27 Mar, 2024

Aitchison controversy

It is hoped that higher authorities realise that politics and nepotism have no place in schools.