Mechanical demolition of Nasla Tower begins

KARACHI: After the Supreme Court’s immediate demolition order of Nasla Tower on Wednesday, the city administration sprang into action and started mechanical demolition.

Heavy-duty machinery and labourers torn down the walls of the parking and basement areas of the residential-cum-commercial tower. The labourers worked on pre-demolition works such as removal of staircases, windows and doors. Deputy Commissioner East Asif Jaan Siddiqui is leading the operation, while the Commissioner Karachi Iqbal Memon visited the location twice on Wednesday.

The commissioner's office has awarded the contract to raze the building to Sher Khan Demolition Company. The company will keep the rubble and pay some amount to the commissioner's office, according to the assistant commissioner Ferozabad Asma Batool. She said that the amount may be distributed among the allotees of the building later if the apex court directs them to do so.

The commissioner Karachi talking to the media said that the work to demolish the Nasla Tower had begun. He explained that the demolition work was temporarily stopped as precautionary measures were to be taken. The Supreme Court, he said, ordered to make sure that lives are not lost in the demolition process.

The commissioner Karachi said that the 10th floor had been demolished while machineries were destroying the 11th floor. "The Supreme Court has directed me to speed up the demolition process. It will be done," he said.

Memon said that the demolition of the tower, from the inside of the building, is underway. By Wednesday evening, he said that the process of demolishing the building from inside would kick off. The Nasla Tower, he said, will be knocked down in a traditional manner, through the use of machines and labourers. The commissioner Karachi was previously pondering on ways to demolish the Nalsa Tower, either through a controlled blast or machines.

Meanwhile, speaking to The News, the assistant commissioner Ferozabad said that Sher Khan Demolition Company has been awarded the contract to demolish the building through machines. “The company has assured that in a span of 50 days, the entire building will be razed,” she said. Initially, she said, staircases, windows and doors of upper floors are being removed. As for the ground floors, she shared, apart from the pillars everything has been demolished. By Thursday, she said, grills and structures at the façade of the building would be removed. As for the traffic plan, she said that the curve of Sharae Faisal leading to Sharae Quaideen would remain blocked for a few days. The demolition company will cover the entire façade of the building with iron sheet after which it will be knocked down, so that the rubble and stones do not damage other properties and cause harm to human lives.

The Sindh Building Control Authority (SBCA) on Monday initiated the pre-demolition work of the Nasla Tower on the directives of the Karachi commissioner. However, soon after the commencement of the partial demolition work, Batool stopped it on the grounds of safety concerns.