Karachi commissioner forms body to select demolition firms to raze Nasla Tower

• The expressions of interest would be assessed and evaluated technically as per the protocol by the committee in one day.
• Nasla Tower will be completely vacated by Sunday.
• The deputy commissioner of the District East is the chairman of the committee.

KARACHI: In a bid to comply with the Supreme Court’s (SC) orders within the stipulated timeframe, the Karachi commissioner has constituted an eight-member committee to finalize the companies to raze the 15-storey Nasla Tower.

The committee will evaluate and select the tenders submitted by different companies regarding the demolition of the Nasla Tower through controlled blasting.

According to a notification issued by the Karachi Commissioner Office on Friday, the Supreme Court of Pakistan issued an order on October 25 regarding the demolition of Nasla Tower measuring 1,121 square yards on plot 193-A at the Sindhi Muslim Cooperative Housing Society (SMCHS) on Shareae Faisal.

To comply with the apex court’s order, the statement said the Commissioner Office had already published an advertisement for the expression of interest in leading daily newspapers. The expressions of interest would be assessed and evaluated technically as per the protocol and the committee constituted for the evaluation would review them in one day.

The deputy commissioner of the District East is the chairman of the committee. Its other seven members include the Sindh Building Control Authority director general, NED University Head of Civil Engineering Department Abdul Jabbar Sangi, Frontier Works Organisation Commanding Officer Lt Col Hasnian M Rashid, Karachi Metropolitan Corporation general works and technical director, East SSP, KMC anti-encroachment senior director and non-governmental organisation Shehri’s Amber Alibhai.

Terms of reference

The terms of reference of the committee, according to the notification, include evaluation of bids received under the expression of interest for the demolition of Nasla Tower, recommendation of the most suitable firm for such demolition and related advices.

On Thursday, The District East deputy commissioner had announced that the district administration had taken over the control of Nasla Tower. However, some residents had still not vacated the building by then.

Residents demands compensation for their losses

The residents of the tower demanded of the apex court to ensure that they were compensated for their losses. The Nasla Tower management committee’s Muhammad Ali said they were ready to vacate the building but nothing had been decided regarding the mechanism of compensation for them.

He maintained that the building would be completely vacated by Sunday. Another resident, Shaheen, said they were still present inside the building and packing up.

In June, the Supreme Court had ordered the tower’s demolition over its illegal construction on the service road, telling the builders to refund the registered buyers of the residential and commercial units within three months.

District East Deputy Commissioner Asif Jan Siddiqi said the administration had taken control of Nasla Tower after the deadline to vacate the illegally-constructed building had expired.

The management of the building said that residents of over 20 flats had shifted to other places till last night, however, some of the residents could not find places to rent and eight flat owners who lived abroad could not be contacted. The management urged the authorities to provide more time so that those living abroad could shift their belongings in their flats elsewhere.