The Sindh government has prepared an initial rehabilitation plan for the affecters of the Gul Plaza incident, announcing temporary spaces for affected shopkeepers to resume their businesses as well as financial assistance of Rs500,000 for each affected shopkeeper, along with the reconstruction of shops.
Addressing the Sindh Assembly on Friday, Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah said the government stood with the families of those affected by the Gul Plaza tragedy. He acknowledged that negligence and shortcomings had occurred and stressed that whoever was responsible would not escape punishment.
Briefing the assembly on the incident, the chief minister said that 82 missing persons reports were initially registered, of which 61 bodies had been recovered so far, while 15 people remained missing. He added that DNA profiling of 52 individuals was currently underway.
Murad Ali Shah said the lease of Gul Plaza was approved in 1991 by the then mayor, when the building consisted of a basement, ground floor and two additional floors. In 1998, a fresh application was submitted to the KBC, and in 2003 the then mayor approved the addition of more shops. He added that an ordinance for the regularization of buildings had been introduced in 2001.
He said the building was originally leased in 1884 for 99 years, which expired in 1983, but the lease was never renewed.
The chief minister announced that Gul Plaza would have to be demolished and rebuilt, with the same number of shops constructed as before, and that traders would be rehabilitated.
He further announced that all affected shopkeepers would be given immediate financial assistance of Rs500,000 each, and that affected traders would also be eligible for loans of up to Rs10 million.
It is worth recalling that the Sindh government had earlier announced compensation of Rs10 million per person for the families of those who lost their lives in the Gul Plaza tragedy.
