RAWALPINDI, April 5: Two building inspectors have been suspended, while disciplinary action was ordered against a number of high-level Tehsil administration officers for their alleged negligence in the construction of a plaza in Commercial Market which collapsed on Friday, killing several people.

A murder case has also been registered against the plaza owner, said provincial minister for law, local government and rural development Mohammad Basharat Raja at a press conference here on Saturday.

The two inspectors, who have been suspended, are Sarfaraz Gill and Malik Maqsood.

The minister said the tragedy occurred because of ‘criminal negligence’ of Tehsil administration’s building department. He said he had also directed the local government department to take action against two TMA officers — Tehsil officer Altaf Hussain Bhatti and deputy director architect Iqtidar Yaqoob.

He said the building had been constructed without the TMA approval. The owner had submitted map only for the basement and first floor, which was under consideration and had not yet been approved, he added.

He said four other illegally-built multi-storey buildings had also been detected and action was ordered against their owners.

The provincial minister, flanked by District Nazim Raja Tariq Kiani, Tehsil Nazim Raja Hamid Nawaz and Deputy Nazim Sajjad Khan, said a high-level committee had also been formed to probe the incident.

The committee members include secretary housing and physical planning, additional secretary local government, chief engineer construction and works, chief architect and director general of Rawalpindi Development Authority.

Strict action will be taken against the persons responsible, when the committee submits its report, the minister said. The TMA has directed all the owners of under-construction multi-storey buildings to stop work immediately whether or not their maps have been approved by the authority, he said.

Only those people will be allowed to continue construction who produce a certificate from architects, ensuring that their map has been properly approved, the material being used is of good quality and there is proper parking space, he added.

The TMA will conduct a survey to detect other illegally constructed buildings — under-construction or complete.

Mr Basharat said relief operations were started soon after the incident. Apart from the TMA, Civil Defence, Frontier Works Organisation and army also took part in the efforts to rescue trapped people.

To a question, the district Nazim said the rescue operation took long because it was carried out in a technical way to ensure safe evacuation of people trapped under debris.

The provincial minister underlined the need for updating civic bodies’ bye-laws and strict implementation of building plans.