R AWA LPINDI: The Rawal Town Municipal Administration (RTMA) has failed to ensure the implementation of building bylaws, including allocation of parking space by the owners of commercial plazas.

`More than 80pc of high-rise buildings in Raja Bazaar, College Road, Liaquat Road, Satellite Town, Commercial Market and Murree Road have been constructed without any parking area and fire safety measures due to the negligence of the building department and the civil defence department,` a senior official of the RTMA told Dawn.

`All commercial plazas on College Road dealing in garments and other material imported from China have failed to allocate space for parl
The official added that the building department did not checl< the bylaws in the city areas due to alleged pressure from the local leaders of the ruling party. He said most of the commercial plazas had been constructed in areas where the PML-N won the 2013 general elections.

`In the area near Chandni Chowk, there was a ban on the construction of more than 35-foot-tall buildings. However, now there are over seven buildings that are over 40 feet tall and have no parking lots in the basement.

He said in the thickly-populated areas of Raja Bazaar, Bara Market, Moti Bazaar, not a single shopping mall has installed fire safety measures or allocated space for parking.

District Officer Emergency Dr Abdur Rehman admitted that the high-rise buildings in the city were without fire safety equipment.

`We are just issuing no-objection certificates (NOCs) to the owners to construct buildings on vacant plots. In the NOCs, the department asks the owners to ensure a ventilationsystem and the installation of fire safety equipment along with emergency exit ways from the upper storey and parking spaces in the basement.

He said it was the duty of the RTMA and the civil defence department to ensure the implementation of the bylaws and take action against the violators.

District Officer Civil Defence Sanjeeda Khanum also admitted that more than 90pc of the high-rise buildings and commercial plazas were without fire safety measures and not following the building bylaws.

She said her department could not do the job without the help of the RTMA which had failed to ensure the implementation of the building bylaws, including the allocation of parking areas and emergency exits in the plazas.

PML-N leader and former MNA Malik Shakil Awan also said the civic body had failed to implement the building bylaws but claimed that there was no political pressure on the officials to perform their duties.

`It is the duty of the civic body to implement the rules and regulations made for the safety of the citizens. Corruption in the civic bodies is the main hurdle in this regard,` he said.