The Sindh government on Monday suspended Sindh Building and Control Authority (SBCA) Director General Ishaque Khuhro over the recent building collapse in Karachi that claimed 27 lives.
The five-storey building on Fida Husain Shaikha Road in Lea Market collapsed on Friday morning, with the rescue operations concluding yesterday. The building had already been declared uninhabitable by authorities due to its dilapidated structure, with the SBCA saying it had issued multiple prior notices to residents to vacate the structure since 2023.
A notification issued by Sindh Chief Secretary Asif Hyder Shah, a copy of which is available with Dawn.com, stated that the SBCA DG’s services were “placed under suspension with immediate effect for the reason of misconduct and inefficiency”.
It added that Khuhro’s headquarters during the suspension period would be at the Services, General Administration and Coordination Department. He would “draw his salaries and allowances during the suspension period as admissible under the rules”.
Shahmir Khan Bhutto, a Grade-20 officer serving as the secretary of the chief minister’s Inspection, Enquiries and Implementation Team Department, was notified as the new SBCA DG.
Speaking on the development, Sindh Senior Minister Sharjeel Inam Memon said: “Today, the chief minister has also suspended the DG SCBA and has ordered the home minister to immediately register an FIR (first information report) on the incident and that strictest action be taken against all those involved.”
Memon was addressing a press conference in Karachi alongside Sindh Home Minister Ziaul Hasan Lanjar and Local Government (LG) Minister Saeed Ghani.
According to Ghani, other SBCA officials who were suspended included the director, deputy director and building inspectors assigned to Lyari. He also noted that the Sindh government has announced Rs1 million in compensation to the families of the 27 deceased people.
Major opposition parties — the PTI, Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) and Jamaat-i-Islami — have condemned the PPP’s Sindh government, the SBCA and other authorities, accusing them of “criminal negligence”.
They not only demanded compensation and alternative residences for the affected families, but also called for the registration of manslaughter cases against the officials responsible for the tragedy.
Noting the loss of 27 lives, Memon said: “The entire province, nation and all of us as the government representatives are saddened and equally share the grief of the bereaved families.”
“The chief minister has taken a very strict notice of this,” he asserted.
Memon said CM Murad’s notice of the incident was aimed at ensuring strict action “against those who did not fulfil their duties or even if they fulfilled, they were not able to implement them”.
He added that the fact-finding committee formed on the incident, which was given three days to present a report, would submit its report within two days due to the Ashura public holidays over the weekend.
Karachi Commissioner Hassan Naqvi will now head the committee, according to Ghani.
51 ‘extremely fragile’ buildings
During the media briefing, Ghani also mentioned that there were 51 buildings in Karachi that were “extremely fragile and should be demolished”.
He said the city commissioner has been directed to provide the number of residents and units in those buildings, as well as the details of whether they own the property or have rented it, so that the process of demolishing them can be started.
“The Karachi commissioner has to also provide assessments of the 588 buildings which were declared dangerous within two weeks so that we can decide which of the buildings need to be destroyed and which can be fixed through major repair,” he added.
In a recent statement, the SBCA noted that 588 buildings have been declared dangerous throughout Karachi, with 107 such buildings in Lyari alone.
Ghani asserted that all SBCA officers appointed in Lyari since 2022 will be identified and included in the inquiry, adding: “If the committee finds involvement or criminal negligence of any officer, they will be included in the FIR and face legal action.”
“If any negligence even by the [SCBA] DG is found in the inquiry, then he will also be included in the FIR,” the LG minister said, noting that Khuhro was in the role in 2022, when the building’s survey was conducted.