‘How do you eat an elephant?’ The answer is bite by bite by bite. So how does one fully conserve and rebuild the old walled city of Lahore? The answer has to be ‘bit by bit’.

This ancient city has been destroyed so many times that one is at a loss to determine just what to rebuild and what to conserve. The Lahore Fort and the walled city as we know it today were last rebuilt in 1566 AD under orders of Mughal Emperor Akbar.

It was rebuilt on ancient foundations going back almost 3,000 years in mud walls. The last disaster to hit it was in 1947 when the sub-continent was partitioned. Let dwell on that disaster first.

As the trading classes from the East, mainly Amritsar, moved in to set up shops inside the walled city, already the main Shahalami Gateway had been destroyed in the riots. As the trading classes rebuilt their outlets they stole all the bricks of the ancient walls. Today that wall does not exist.

Will the walls ever be rebuilt? The trading class do not let that happen as it ‘restricts’ customers and suppliers from reaching them. To add to this massive problem is the fact that while the law clearly says that commercial activities cannot exceed 15 per cent of the built area, today that limit stands at 67pc, and is growing every day. Our trader-backed politicians make sure of that.

But even given this huge constraint, an effort has been underway to rebuild and conserve the old city to its original state. The very first effort was initiated by the Aga Khan, who through his Trust decided to reclaim and conserve just one lane in Delhi Gate called Gali Surjan Singh. The Aga Khan Trust raised the money with German assistance and over a two-year period an amazing and beautiful ‘gali’ emerged.

The effect of this dazzling ‘gali’ led to the creation of the Walled City of Lahore Authority in 2012. Its long-term objective was to reclaim and conserve the entire walled city. As this was underway the Shahi Hamman at the beginning of Delhi Gate was conserved. Again that was an unbelievably beautiful monument. It was clear that if Lahore was completely reclaimed, it would be a massive tourist city. What better could one wish. But what are the shortfalls that face the WCLA today?

The main forces remain the ever-expanding traders, who seem on the path to completely take over all the residential areas. They have massive political clout and that prevents bureaucrats from taking them on. Another emerging factor is that the residents do not participate in the conservation effort. It is clear that without the participation of the residents, no conservation and/or rebuilding is possible. In this piece let us concentrate on this issue.

When the Gali Surjan Singh project was undertaken, of the 14 residents in the narrow lane everyone allowed the exterior work, but over half refused to let the interior be touched. The result was that the houses completely conserved, their woodwork and falling brickwork replaced, a beautiful structure emerged. Even their old bathrooms were modernised.

On the other hand those who allowed only the exterior to be redone today face a crumbling interior. It goes without saying that roof support was wood based and that decays. The answer to this was that the residents were asked to fund half the cost, and this was so because the initial project had not catered for such funding.

The project planned opposite Gali Surjan Singh was the now renamed ‘Muhammadi Mohallah’ which leads up to an Aibak-era mosque. This lane had a leader who wanted it conserved, only to be murdered by an Afghan refugee wanting to open a shop there. The Aga Khan Trust did work on the basic exteriors, but that is all that happened. It was a ‘zero plus zero equaling zero’ project.

So the WCLA set about concentrating on the main Delhi Gate Street and considerable work on the exterior has been done. But that is more of a visual victory. The entire work inside structures has yet to be undertaken.

This brings us to the issue of cost. The immense amount of money needed to completely conserve the entire city is not within the reach of the Punjab government. It is only when the residents themselves participate that will this ancient beautiful city reemerge as one of the finest in the world, which it is.

Will any other portion of the city be conserved? The answer is that the Bhati Gate Bazaar and its lanes were in a high state of decay, with many just collapsing. An effort is underway, which thanks to some local assistance, seems to be finding a new face. If this project is ever completed, for local government finance has stopped, it will be a major development, and could see other portions also striving to improve.

This brings forth three issues. Firstly, where is the WCLA concentrating on given some foreign project assistance? Secondly, can the trading classes be made to move to a better larger place freeing the massive traffic mess that they have created? Lastly, can the residents of the walled city be made to finance part of the cost of improving their own houses?

It is clear that foreign assistance is focused on portions of the Lahore Fort, and the work undertaken is impressive. The Wall Picture – the world’s largest – has almost taken shape. In that the Aga Khan Trust has played a big hand. Also when the neglected fort wall on the northern side collapsed, an unknown portion emerged. That is also being worked on. So the fort is where the WCLA is concentrating on. Minus the strange urge – bizarre is a better word - to build eateries in what the Unesco rules clearly ban, the other work is appreciable.

On the trading classes moving to a better place, clearing the traffic mess it has created, we dwelt on in an earlier piece. This brings us to the urgent need for residents to participate in the massive conservation work needed.

The traders invite cheap labour, which came in the shape of the hundreds of thousands of Afghan refugees during the various Afghanistan wars. Though Afghans have flocked to Lahore for hundreds of years, they never came in the numbers currently in the walled city. They make up an amazing 67 per cent. They are the majority, and they back the traders. It is a permanent crisis situation.

But with time they assimilate and there is a need for old dwellers and newer immigrants to all be made to understand that old Lahore needs to be conserved. That is a job for the government, and at the moment that is not there. Maybe, even in this some foreign assistance will be needed!

Published in Dawn, August 11th, 2024