The demolition of Parsi compound near Regal Chowk in Saddar area is underway for the last three days.
An official of the South district administration confirmed the demolition but he didn’t know the reason behind it.
South Deputy Commissioner Irshad Ali Sodhar said the matter pertains to the Sindh Building Control Authority.
“Had it been a heritage building, the district administration would have sprung into action,” DC Sodhar said. “But we can’t interfere with matters relating to any other authority.”
SBCA Saddar Town Director Mohammad Raqeeb said the compound had been sold out a few years ago. The new owners had taken permission to demolish it from the SBCA, according to the official.
Raqeeb, who took charge of the Saddar Town a couple of months ago, didn’t have much information regarding the compound’s sale agreement.
He, however, confirmed that no SBCA team was taking part in the demolition activity and it was being done privately.
A Parsi man, one of whose relatives once lived in the compound, said that it had been sold out in 2014-2015. His relative told him that a commercial project was going to be constructed there, he said.
“Most Parsi families had left the compound and it was lying abandoned these days,” he added.
DaneshDubash, another member of the community, said Parsis had not only migrated from this compound but they had been leaving other areas of the city too.“
This compound has been abandoned for several years and might have been sold out to someone,” Dubash added.
