KARACHI: The six companies, which had submitted their proposals to an eight-member committee for demolition of Nasla Tower, were on Wednesday asked to submit their respective demolition cost.

Deputy Commissioner of district East Asif Jan Siddiqui, who heads the committee, told Dawn that the final report on the demolition of the building would be submitted to the commissioner on Friday (tomorrow) as the interested companies had been asked to give the final cost of demolition on Thursday (today).

He said two local firms which had joint ventures offered to raze the building vial controlled implosion blast, adding that as many local firms showed interest in mechanical demolition of the building.

The DC said that two of the companies had experience of demolishing 12- to 14-storey buildings through mechanical means. He said that no building was reported to have been razed via controlled implosion blast in any part of the country.

Mr Siddiqui said that committee, which comprised technical experts, would deliberate upon the pros and cons of both the demolition methods offered by different companies.

He, however, said that the cost of mechanical demolition was far cheaper than the controlled blast demolition.

He said that the committee would recommend the “safest, quickest and cheapest” way to demolish the building. The committee was formed by Commissioner Iqbal Memon for awarding the contract of demolition of the 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.

The Supreme Court had on June 16 ordered the tower’s demolition over its illegal construction on a service road, also directing the builders to refund the registered buyers of the residential and commercial units within three months.

On Sept 22, a three-judge SC bench dismissed the review petition against the demolition of the building and 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 16, the district administration severed the residents of Nasla Tower with vacation notice and on Oct 26, the utility connections of Nasla Tower were disconnected on the orders of the Supreme Court.

Published in Dawn, November 4th, 2021