There are 450 hazardous buildings in the city. The commissioner Karachi Muhammad Iqbal Memon directed the relevant authorities to vacate all such dangerous buildings throughout the city in the wake of the threat of Very Severe Cyclonic Storm (VSCS), named Biparjoy.
Out of the 450 hazardous buildings in Karachi, 40 are extremely dangerous as per the Sindh Building Control Authority (SBCA) data. The commissioner stressed that 40 such buildings should be vacated by Monday (today).
SBCA’s director of dangerous buildings Beenish Shabbir told The Citizenry that they are distributing notices to the owners of the hazardous buildings. “We will provide alternatives to such occupiers so that they could be convinced to vacate dangerous structures,” he said, adding that the response of the occupants of such buildings is not positive.
District-wise break up of hazardous buildings shared by SBCA in Feb 2023. This does not include hazardous buildings in cantonment areas. There could be minor changes in the total count of hazardous buildings in a few districts. Picture by: The Citizenry
The commissioner alerted all departments of the city to deal with the Biparjoy, currently present in the Arabian Sea. The commissioner directed all the relevant bodies to complete their preparations to deal with the aftermath of the cyclone. He held a meeting in this regard on Sunday with various governmental departments, including Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA), National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), met office, Pakistan Navy, all the deputy commissioners of all the districts of the city, officials of Karachi Metropolitan Corporation, Sindh Health Department, Karachi Water and Sewerage Board, K-Electric, Defense Housing Authority, Sindh Building Control Authority and other departments.
The met department said that the chances of the cyclone directly hitting the city are less, however, they did not rule out the possibility of heavy winds and rainfalls.
The commissioner said that all the government departments should work in proper coordination. The commissioner was briefed that hazardous buildings are being vacated while billboards are also being removed. The commissioner was told that there are a total of 450 hazardous buildings in the city out of which 40 severely hazardous. Owners of all such buildings have been issued notices to vacate their buildings.
The commissioner directed all the deputy commissioners that by Monday all the notified dangerous buildings should be vacated while billboards should also be removed throughout the city. He said that by Monday the severely dangerous buildings should be vacated come what may. He said that advocacy campaigns should be held for the awareness of citizens to deal with the cyclonic situation.
The commissioner said that all officials should be in close coordination through WhatsApp groups, while the deputy commissioners should finalize all the emergency plans by Monday.
The commissioner also directed the relevant authorities to strictly enforce section 144 at all the beaches of the city. The PDMA and deputy commissioners presented their reports to safeguards the low lying areas in the meeting. The K-Electric briefed in the meeting that they’ve taken measures to prevent electrocution cases, while they have also come up with alternative power supply solutions in case of power breakdowns in the city.
All the government hospitals including the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical University Hospital and Civil Hospital have also been issued alerts by the provincial health department.
Meanwhile, urban planner and architect Marvi Mazhar tweeted that she was “super nervous about all the solar panels. God knows how they are welded all around the city. Remember the time when advertisement boards were flying.”
