Rawalpindi: Owners of 191 old buildings given eviction notices

[Naveed Yaseen]

Malik Ayub Sumbal
The city district government has issued notices to owners of 191 dilapidated houses and buildings being used for commercial and residential purposes.

A survey conducted by ‘The News’ revealed that the dilapidated houses and buildings in various localities of the city were mostly inhabited by middle and lower-middle class families. They pose a serious threat to the lives of residents in the monsoon season.

The majority of dilapidated buildings are located in Raja Bazaar, Kaalan Bazaar, Moti Bazaar, Babra Bazaar, Bagh Sardaran, Dingi Koi, Ratta Amral, Purana Qila and along Murree Road — the busiest thoroughfare in the city.

District Coordination Officer (DCO) Syed Jamal Mustafa, when contacted by ‘The News,’ said that the Tehsil Municipal Administration (TMA) has been directed to take all precautionary measures to ensure safety of people residing in dilapidated buildings.

According to Tehsil Municipal Officer (TMO) Irfan Saleem Butt, evacuation notices were issued to owners of 191 dilapidated buildings to immediately vacate them before the advent of the monsoon season. However, he said, they didn’t pay heed to these notices and still living in these dangerous buildings.

Tenants are living in some of the dangerous buildings and some are being used for commercial purposes. Most of the dilapidated buildings are multi-storey. The walls of these buildings have wide cracks, which pose a grave danger in the monsoon season.

Muhammad Younus, the owner of one such dilapidated building, said that they have no resources to reconstruct the house in which they were living. “We would construct new houses if we have money. Most of the people living in old houses don’t want to leave as these are their ancestral properties,” he said.

“This is the property of my forefathers and I don’t want to leave this place. I have an emotional attachment with this old structure,” said Kashif, owner of an old building in Raja Bazaar.

http://www.thenews.com.pk/daily_detail.asp?id=123135