Gul Plaza’s illegal constructions flagged in 1992, documents reveal

KARACHI: Documents dating back to 1992 reveal that Gul Plaza’s administrative committee had warned authorities about widespread illegal constructions inside the shopping center, cautioning that such violations could eventually lead to a major tragedy.

According to the documents obtained by ARY News, the committee formally informed the KMC Land Department and the Karachi Building Control Authority (KBCA) about the existence of nearly 200 illegal shops within Gul Plaza.

The committee specifically highlighted that the ground floor parking area had been unlawfully converted into commercial shops, severely compromising safety standards.

The records further show that in 1992, additional illegal structures were built on spaces originally designated for washrooms, while corridors and entry/exit points were also encroached upon, obstructing emergency access routes of Gul Plaza.

Despite repeated notifications, no effective action was taken for 34 years. The administrative committee, in its correspondence, even hinted at alleged bribery by relevant officials, suggesting that enforcement agencies deliberately ignored the violations in Gul Plaza.

Documents indicate that the KMC Land Department had formally drawn the attention of the Building Control Authority, yet the KBCA failed to act even after receiving written complaints.

KMC officials have now stated that had action been taken in 1992, the recent Gul Plaza tragedy could have been prevented. They emphasized that decades of institutional negligence allowed illegal constructions to persist, ultimately putting countless lives at risk.

Gul Plaza fire: Initial report

On January 23, 2026, a detailed initial report on the Gul Plaza tragedy was submitted to the Sindh government, claiming a long trail of land ownership disputes, lease violations and regulatory failures spanning more than a century and linking key decisions to periods when the city was governed under MQM and Jamaat-e-Islami mayoral administrations.

According to the report, the land on which Gul Plaza was built originally belonged to the Karachi Municipal Corporation (KMC). In 1883, the plot was leased to the East India Company for 99 years for tram service operations.

The report states that during the mayoral tenure of MQM leader Farooq Sattar, the same land was leased to a private company named Jeneka. Notably, the Jeneka Group purchased the Gul Plaza land just one month before the original lease period expired.

Despite the lease having ended, construction of the building allegedly began and continued in violation of regulations. The report confirms that KMC land was formally leased for Gul Plaza on November 3, 1991, during Farooq Sattar’s tenure as mayor, and bears his signature.

It further reveals that the land was leased at a nominal rent of Rs3 per square yard. Construction activities reportedly continued on the KMC land without a valid lease from 1883 until 1990.

The report also points to administrative inaction, stating that the then-mayor Abdul Sattar Afridi of Jamaat-e-Islami did not take effective steps to halt the construction despite the irregularities.

In 2003, additional floors of the building were regularized during the mayoral tenure of Naimatullah Khan, also from Jamaat-e-Islami, according to the findings.

The report highlights serious lapses in oversight and governance, suggesting that illegal leasing practices and unauthorized construction played a key role in the circumstances surrounding the Gul Plaza incident.