Karachi residents protest against 46-storey building in Clifton — Dawn
Residents of the Clifton area in Karachi, Pakistan, held a protest against the construction of a 46-storey building in the Block-5 residential neighbourhood. They say the area already faces problems with water supply, sewage and unpaved streets, while the new high-rise could worsen the situation, Dawn reports.
Men, women and elderly people gathered near the Do Talwar roundabout and marched to the construction site. The protesters held placards against commercial activity in Block-5 and high-rise development on residential streets. They also expressed concerns about where the high-rise would get its water supply.
Infrastructure concerns
Residents claim that the status of the plot designated for residential development was changed to commercial. Businesswoman Sabera Tapal said residents had already approached the Clifton Cantonment Board, the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation and the Karachi Water and Sewerage Corporation, but their complaints had allegedly gone unheeded.
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Another resident, Shumaila Daud, said the area had previously been considered prestigious and housed several foreign consulates, but now lacks basic infrastructure. Actor Tipu Sharif, who joined the protest, said the building was being erected on a narrow street next to three-storey houses, while construction work was disturbing residents' peace. According to him, the Sindh Building Control Authority had previously limited the height of development in the area.
Complaint to the building authority
Lawyer Hafiz Jaghirani said that on behalf of residents, he had appealed to the director general of the Sindh Building Control Authority, demanding that the work be stopped and the high-rise commercial building, which he called illegal, be removed. In the complaint, the lawyer stated that the developer was carrying out work in violation of laws and regulations and on the basis of documents he described as forged or falsified.
According to Jaghirani, he also filed an information request with the Sindh Master Plan Authority regarding the change in the plot's status. The lawyer claims that no geological survey or soil analysis was conducted for the project and said he intended to go to court. The protesters called for construction permits, environmental assessments and infrastructure capacity studies to be made public, as well as for strict compliance with zoning rules and building codes.
