KARACHI, Jan 14 Infrastructure for the proposed Sindh Building Control Authority (SBCA) and its scope and sphere across the province was discussed at a high-level meeting held at the Chief Minister's House on Thursday.

Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah, who presided over the meeting, ordered the constitution of a committee to prepare a draft of the necessary amendments to the Sindh Building Control Ordinance, 1979 for the establishment of the SBCA.

The meeting decided that SBCA offices would be established at the district level across the entire province, including Karachi, where 'high-density zones' would be created in the areas other than those falling within the remit of the city district government concerned.

The SBCA would have the responsibility of regulating the disposal of plots, construction, building plans, as well as demolition of dangerous buildings and the structures raised in violation of the prescribed rules and regulations in the province. The meeting was told that buildings would be raised along the seafront and other areas falling within the SCBA jurisdiction.

Highlighting the need for amending the laws in this regard, the chief minister said that a building control system should be evolved and the scope and the sphere of the authority determined. He said that the SBCA would function at the district level under the monitoring of its higher offices to be set up at the regional level.

Minister for Local Government Agha Siraj Durrani, Minister for Law Ayaz Soomro, Minister for Revenue Jam Mehtab Dahar, Finance Secretary Fazlullah Pechuho, chief of the KBCA, and officials of various departments were present at the meeting.

Chief Secretary Fazalur Rehman, speaking to Dawn after the meeting, said that the extension of the SBCO to small cities of the province would help generate revenue for the local government institutions at the district level. Besides, he added, this would ensure quality construction and check violation of building rules and regulations in both rural and urban areas.

The chief secretary pointed out that multi-storey buildings were no more confined to the big cities of the province. Citing construction activity on a large scale in the cities like Hyderabad, Sukkur, Shaheed Benazirabad, Mirpurkhas, Larkana, Shikarpur, etc, he observed ground-plus-one and higher constructions were on the rise in small towns and even remote areas of rural Sindh.

The absence of an active building control authority was giving rise to apprehensions of substandard construction and fragile structure that could pose a threat to human life, as being expressed by architects and technocrats concerned over the flagrant and unchecked violation of building laws by builders.

Mr Rehman also took cognizance of the situation where a local government officer without a degree in architecture has the responsibility of ensuring observance of building rules, master plans and other highly technical things involved in the construction of buildings in small cities and towns. He stressed the need for assigning such jobs to architects or some other professional having expertise of determining structural strength of buildings through all stages of their construction.

In reply to a question, the chief secretary said that the decision to develop buildings along the seafront and the proposed 'high-density zones' was taken after considering the relevant proposals from architects and builders. However, he added, the sites for such zones would be identified only after the receipt of relevant recommendations from a board comprising representatives of the civic agencies concerned.