KARACHI, Oct 15: Karachi has over 38,000 irregular buildings, including 259 highrise frozen structures, which were built in violation of town planning and building by-laws. These illegal buildings have emerged in the city during last one decade.

The buildings include about 33,000 residential houses, 1100 flat sites, 1557 mixed and 2556 purely commercial buildings, sources told PPI, quoting a census report which was prepared by Karachi Development Authority last year.

They said a detailed report about the buildings was furnished at a presentation to the Sindh chief secretary a few months ago, in which the government was suggested to initiate a regularization process of these buildings as the Cantonment Boards and other agencies had already regularized several irregular buildings.

It was also suggested to charge a commercialization fee of over 300 per cent, which would generate income of about Rs6738.39 million.

The buildings could not be regularized in the past as no such law existed at that time. However, a committee constituted by the provincial government in March 2000, presented its report in September 2000 suggesting repromulgation of a 1982 ordinance for the time being as it envisaged certain favourable clauses.

As regard the 259 highrise buildings, frozen in 1996, the committee was of the view that no regularization be made until the engineers and experts issued certificate of stability as human lives would remain at stake in the buildings constructed with substandard material or neglecting the required engineering aspects.

Besides, the committee recommended, such lands should not be regularized, which had been brought into use in violation of the environmental laws.

The frozen highrise buildings located in Liyari, Jamshed Quarters, Garden, PECHS, Clifton and other areas, include 124 buildings, built on residential plots in violation of number of floors, covered area and plot ratio; 52 buildings on commercial plots in violation of floor construction, covered area and plot ratio; 11 flat sites, 31 residential apartments, 19 buildings on commercial plots, but in violation of only covered area and plot ratio; 12 buildings on residential plots, but misused as offices, shops, factory and marriage gardens, and ten buildings constructed on plots frozen by the Sindh government.— PPI