HYDERABAD, Sept 12: The ill-fated building which collapsed in Liaquat Colony on Wednesday evening and resulted in the deaths of three labourers was being built without the approval of the Sindh Building Control Authority (SBCA), Dawn learnt on Thursday.

The property owner, Mohammad Islam, did not have an SBCA-approved map of the building being constructed on plot no 552.

Moreover, the final notice by the SBCA for construction on plot 552 — covering between 35 and 40 square yards — had been issued to the owner but he continued with the construction anyway, without seeking legal recourse.

Meanwhile, since Wednesday night, neither a single body nor a survivor was retrieved from beneath the rubble while the owner has disappeared, perhaps for the fear of legal action.

It turned out that the branch concerned of the SBCA had also begun documenting the case for prosecution in civil court under Section 19 (2) of the Sindh Building Control Ordinance 1979.

SBCA officials in Hyderabad region said that they had the power to demolish any illegal construction and prosecute all those who indulged in it.

They said that the authority first issued a notice to the party concerned which was followed by a reminder and the final notice.

“In this situation, all these steps had been had been exhausted from our part and we were about to send the case for prosecution,” SBCA deputy director for City taluka, Imran Hussain Khan. “But we were not able to seal the building because it was only a structure of pillars and columns.”

On Wednesday night, he said, roof of the building’s second storey caved in causing the entire structure to collapse. “It was just a small plot of 35 to 40 square yards like so many others in the area.” he said.

According to the SBCA taluka deputy director, notices had been issued to owner of the building following the report of field staff. He said that more notices, requiring him to pursue the matter legally, were issued to him but he avoided them and continued with the construction. “We could have demolished the structure but since other buildings are located quite closed to it this course was avoided,” he said. “I have verbally asked the owners of at least three adjacent buildings to either vacate the premises or take precaution.”

According to SBCA officials, the entire strip of land where the incident occurred faced a sewage drain and an oil mill is also located there. Heavy trailers enter and leave the area after loading and off-loading goods causing a jolt to the small buildings. “The properties are also likely to be damaged by seepage from the sewage drain.”

After the incident, the SBCA formed a three-member committee under Naveed Asim to probe the incident.Other members are Athar Ghauri and Mumtaz Lashari.

The committee would submit a report to the SBCA director for Hyderabad region after three days. According to Mr Ghauri, the committee besides determining the cause of building collapse would also investigate whether adjacent buildings too face a similar threat.

“The owner had been raising another structure after demolishing an old one,” he said. “We can find out the strength of the collapsed building and the material used in it by laboratory tests to be conducted in the NED University, Karachi.”

Meanwhile on Thursday, Hyderabad division commissioner Jamal Mustafa Syed notified a separate three-member committee headed by second additional deputy commissioner Rao Atif. The committee would work under the supervision of Hyderabad deputy commissioner. Other members include SBCA regional chief Tazmir Asim and municipal commissioner Latif Lodhi.

Talking to Dawn, deputy commissioner Nawaz Sohu said that the committee would ascertain the cause of the building collapse and would give recommendations for preventing such incidents in the future.

He said that the committee would see whether SBCA rules were followed and a map for the building had been approved by the owner. He said that members of the committee could co-opt anyone for any technical assistance and would submit its report within 15 days.

He said that more than 97 buildings in Hyderabad had been declared dangerous in the SBCA list of vulnerable buildings compiled last year.

Meanwhile, a district administration official claimed that the assistance could be sought from someone in the Mehran University of Engineering and Technology’s town planning department for finalising recommendations of the report. He said that future planning requirements would be kept in view and the recommendations would also be helpful for city planners.