Karachi marriage halls to be shutdown from tomorrow

KARACHI: Registering a protest over a notice issued by the Sindh Building Control Authority (SBCA), marriage hall owners on Saturday decided to shutdown marriage halls from Jan 27 onwards for an indefinite period of time, reported ARY News.

It is pertinent to note that the SBCA notice to marriage hall owners emphasised on halting commercial activities at marriage halls.

Upon receiving the aforementioned notice, majority of the marriage hall owners proceeded towards the SBCA office and blocked the Karachi University road which consequently caused a major traffic jam.

According to sources, marriage hall owners association has decided to conduct protests throughout the city from Jan 27 apart from observing a complete shutdown of all the marriage halls within the city.

Since SBCA is simple complying with orders of the Supreme Court, no negotiations have taken place between them and the marriage hall owners association.

The SC order

On Jan 24, the SC had ordered to demolish all marriage halls situated along three major arteries of the city falling within the remits of Cantonment Board.

The apex court ordered that all wedding halls situated along Karsaz, Shahrah-e-Faisal and Rashid Minhas Road be demolished. It also directed authorities to raze cinemas, commercial plazas and markets in cantonment areas.

Hearing the case, the court summoned heads of Airport Security Force (ASF), Karachi Port Trust (KPT), Pakistan International Airlines (PIA), Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) and other relevant authorities.

The top court also sought report from heads of the aforesaid institutions within two weeks.