AS workers continue to sift through the rubble of Jamia Masjid Hanifia in Lahore’s Daroghawala area, several families are mourning the over 20 people who died on Tuesday when the mosque’s second storey collapsed.

Those fortunate enough to survive say that there was a loud bang immediately followed by the caving in of the newly constructed roof. Within minutes, say eyewitnesses, the whole edifice had turned to rubble.

What makes the episode even more tragic is the all-too-common reason: substandard construction and additions to the original design on the one hand, and the lack of governmental oversight in ensuring that building requirements were met on the other.

Also Read: Eighteen killed in Lahore after mosque roof collapses

Five or six years ago, the mosque administration decided to expand the 40-year-old building whose design had not been approved by the district administration since the government then was still some decades away from issuing no-objection certificates.

Unfortunately, it also bypassed consultation with any architect or civil engineer whose concern it is to ensure that a building is structurally sound and safe for the purpose for which it will be used.

The result was a second storey resting on inadequate foundations.

This made the collapse more or less inevitable.

While the mosque administration must of course be taken to task for its negligence, the city administrative apparatus must equally shoulder the blame for not enforcing the standards that are thoroughly spelt out by the law.

Also Read: Bad civil work made mosque death trap

The fact is that across the country, it is routine for structures — whether mosques, houses, buildings or any other construction — to be built in violation of the structural requirements, and without government agencies ensuring that all rules and regulations are complied with.

In terms of mosques, their administrations, too, often play a controversial role: any questions about mosque expansion are usually met with outrage, and the issue is distorted through a religious lens.

Tuesday’s tragedy should serve as a wake-up call: building codes need to be urgently enforced, and not only the administration but the citizens themselves need to recognise their importance.

Published in Dawn, September 12th, 2014