Justice Gulzar Ahmed of the Supreme Court remarked on Tuesday that 15 million people of Karachi would perish if a quake measuring 7.0 magnitude on the Richter scale struck the port city.
Headed by Justice Gulzar, a bench of the top court was hearing a petition against the proposed demolition of a building, Breeze Plaza on MA Jinnah Road, at its Karachi Registry.
The bench took the Sindh Building Control Authority (SBCA) director general to task over poor performance.
It asked him to spell out as to how many buildings are under construction at present, to which, he replied there would be 400 to 500 buildings in the city. “You are not doing your job properly,” remarked the judge. “This is the height of shamelessness.” “Don’t you feel ashamed over what treatment have you meted out to the city.” “You sold your respect, your conscience, and your body,” he continued.
“15 million people will perish if a 7.0 magnitude quake hits Karachi,” Justice Gulzar said.
The bench observed the Breeze Plaza is dangerous and can fall any time. It summoned officials of the NESPAK and Pakistan Engineering Council on the next hearing on August 9.
Meanwhile, the Supreme Court came down hard on the Sindh government, municipal authorities and the power distribution company over the deaths of dozens of people due to electrocution during recent rains in the metropolis.
A three-judge larger bench headed by Justice Gulzar Ahmed was hearing a number of applications regarding various civic issues in Karachi at the apex court’s Karachi Registry. Justice Faisal Arab and Justice Sajjad Ali Shah were the other members of the bench. Justice Arab during the hearing noted that 22 children had died after suffering electric shocks during the recent rains in Karachi and other parts of Sindh but that the deaths had had no impact on the power utility.
He said K-Electric “makes a profit of Rs 50 million in exchange for five paisas”. The company also “sold all the copper wires” and replaced them with aluminum cables, Justice Ahmed added. He also asked the provincial authorities why they had not hesitated at handing over “such a sensitive [power supply] system to a foreign company. Justice Arab observed that people usually do not die from electrocution in any modern city. In an apparent reference to Karachi Mayor Wasim Akhtar and Sindh Governor Imran Ismail, Justice Ahmed said that he had seen “some people enjoying, sipping tea” at a cafe during the Karachi rain.
“Some people only found out how many people had died of electrocution while sitting in their office,” the judge added, without naming anyone. “The Karachi mayor kept himself shielded from rainwater by wearing a raincoat while the people around him kept getting drenched.” Justice Ahmed further said that Karachi’s authorities and the Sindh government had “completely failed” to fulfil their responsibilities. He noted that the federal government had now taken up the task of cleaning Karachi. “Do you realise what will happen if the federal government too fails [to complete the task]?” the judge asked the provincial law officer, before answering the question himself: “The people are watching everything. You don’t realise what impact this will have.”
