KARACHI: A committee formed to address unsafe buildings and illegal construction across the province was informed on Monday that as many as 300 families had been evicted from 56 `extremely dangerous` buildings in the metropolis and were being provided monthly rental assistance of Rs30,000 for three months.

The information was provided by the deputy commissioner of district South during the second meeting of the provincial committee on dangerous structures and illegal constructions held here.According to a press release, the meeting was chaired by Local Government Minister Saeed Ghani and attended by Additional Chief Secretary Waseem Shamshad, Commissioner Syed Hassan Naqvi, Sindh Building Control Authority (SBCA) Director General Shahmir Bhutto, Association of Builders and Developers (Abad) Senior Vice Chairman Syed Afzal Hameed, Pakistan Engineering Council (PEC) Senior Vice Chairman Sarosh H. Lodhi, architects from the Pakistan Council of Architects and Town Planners (PCATP) including Architect Arif Belguami, Syed Arif Shah, Maria Aslam and others.

Speaking on the occasion, Mr Ghani said that a comprehensive survey of all 740 building declared `dangerous` across Sindh, including 588 in Karachi, was being conducted afresh in collaboration between government and private institutions.

He said that the survey was likely to be completed by the next week.

He revealed that of the 61 `extremely dangerous` buildings in Karachi, 56 had already been re-surveyed and vacated, while theremaining five four in Garden and one in Saddarare under judicial scrutiny and will soon be vacated as well.

During the meeting, DC-South Javed Nabi Khoso presented a report and stated that over 300 families had been affected by vacating 56 `extremely dangerous` buildings.

He said that 25 per cent of them were tenants, 180 families had pagri (goodwill) agreements while rest of the families owned their houses.

The minister assured that residents` concerns would be taken into account and any structure deemed liveable or made habitable through repairs would not be included on the list of `dangerous` buildings.

He said that residents evacuated from these buildings had started receiving monthly rental compensation, which has been increased from Rs20,000 to Rs30,000 per month.

Mr Ghani also instructed Abad and other relevant institutions to conduct feasibility surveys for long-term rehabilitation of those affected, particularly on vacated plots.

During the meeting, architect Arif Shah of PCATP presented an improved version of the `Dangerous Building Assessment Form`, which was unanimously approved by all stakeholders.

`Mr Shah has also been assigned to lead a special task force for training SBCA teams and other professionals, with the city commissioner to oversee the formation of this task force,` said the press release.He clarified that the committee conducting the survey includes representatives from SBCA, the DC office, PEC, PCATP, and Abad. `If more subcommittees are needed to complete the task transparently and swiftly, they will be established,` he said.

He warned that in the future, no utility including K-Electric, Sui Southern Gas Company, or the Karachi Water and Sewerage Corporation will be allowed to provide connections to any building without a proper completion certificate. If any such connections are provided unlawfully, strict legal action will be taken.