Karachi: The Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) has formed a six-member committee that has been tasked to draft bylaws for the issuance of a no-objection certificate (NOC) by the fire brigade department for the construction of high-rise buildings in Karachi, according to news sources.
The said development was prompted by the orders of the Sindh High Court (SHC), under which it has been made mandatory for all the high-rise projects to get a no-objection certificate (NOC) from the fire department before constructing such buildings. This includes all residential, commercial and mixed-use real estate projects.
The various tasks of the committee include the formulation of bylaws for the issuance of NOC according to best international practices and firefighting rules. In addition to that, it will also be responsible to introduce a policy that will be standard for obtaining the Height NOC from the fire department of KMC. The committee will keep the process transparent and also decide on a fee for obtaining the NOC.
The said committee will consist of members that will be highly skilled and experienced in their respective fields. These will be the KMC law advisor, land director, estate director, MUCT Director and officials of KMC and fire brigade department. The committee will be responsible for devising strategy while considering technical and construction aspects of the project, formulate bylaws according to international firefighting rules, formulate a uniform policy for height NOC issuance by the KMC fire department and decide a fee for these NOCs.
Karachi city has probably the highest number of high-rise buildings in the city. Safety precautions and measures like fire exit must be made compulsory for all the high-rise buildings so that in cases of emergency, the situation doesn’t turn out to be chaotic.
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