Government mulling action against SBCA: victims complain about lack of care at Civil Hospital

Expressing fear of bleak prospects about her shelter, a 35 years old injured woman, Aliya, who fell from the rooftop of the collapsed building at Moosa Lane on Thursday, held the Sindh Building Control Authority (SBCA) responsible for not sending any warning message to the residents of the building.
Wife of one of the building owners, Riyaz, who was admitted in Orthopedic-II Ward of Civil Hospital, insisted that the SBCA had not issued any warning message to the inhabitants of the building. "We are one of the owners of the building and why we would stay there..., if we got any message from SBCA about our edifice," she said.
Complaining of ill-treatment in Civil Hospital, she said that there is no proper arrangement for the injured; albeit the victims were given assurance for proper treatment by the government representatives but nobody was present to care for the injured except family members. Moreover, she said, the hospital administration had failed to provide basic medical amenities to the victims of the mishap.
She also criticised the role of rescuers in the incident, saying that majority of the injured and bodies were recovered by the locals. However, the rescue teams appeared unsuccessful to reach the spot in time. She said the government has announced to set up a relief camp for the victims but the residents of the building, who survived in this terrible disaster, are compelled to reside in the Mosque. An 18-year-old girl Kiran, who got severe injuries and lost her two siblings and a house in this incident, asked to provide shelter to her family. Kiran, a daughter of donkey-cart owner Abdul Ghaffar and a maid by her profession lamented that nobody from government and from any welfare organisation visited the hospital. Muhammad Shakeel, a maternal uncle of victim Kiran, said the bereaved family had lost two beloved children including an 8-year-old Areesha and 22-year-old Bilal while three other siblings namely Komal, 18 Kiran, 21 and Aribia, 13 sustained injuries in this accident.
Meanwhile SSP Naeem Sheikh said the Sindh government is seriously contemplating to take legal action against the SBCA for its negligence and misconduct. He said the rules of SBCA, which restrict the construction of five-floor and above without special permission, have been violated by the inhabitants of Lyari. He said that several high structures were present in the dense populated area of Lyari but the SBCA has not taken any action against the owners of these buildings to avert untoward such incidents.
He further said that meeting between all concerned authorities is going to be convened soon where the issue of taking legal action against SBCA would be discussed. He said that the rescuers wre still facing difficulties to conduct rescue operations in the area, adding that several people were feared trapped under the rubble of the building and the possibilities of further causalities could not be ruled out. When this scribe approached controller of SBCA Manzoor Qadir to discuss the matter, he was not available for comments.