Consider the following

1) Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi is to visit the Mahatma Gandhi Garden in Karachi on Feb 1, 1929 at 6pm. On Jan 22, 1929 chief officer of the Karachi Municipality requests the executive engineer to 'make the necessary seating arrangements in connection with the presentation of an address of welcome to the mahatma...and to decorate the garden with flags and buntings as usual...' An official letter issued on April 12, 1957 suggests that the name of the Gandhi Garden has been changed into the Zoological Garden.

2) A postcard carrying a picture of a telephone set reads 'Parsons Sloper secret interphone - the only instrument that will give you an absolutely secret conversation on a single line wiring system.'

3) A map of Kurrachee, Garden Quarter drawn in 1874.

4) A copy of Dawn published from Delhi on Oct 12, 1942 (Vol 1. No 1).

These samples of documented information are available at the Archives and Research Wing of the Karachi Municipal Corporation Office. Yes, the office building is not just worth-mentioning because of its imposing design and a tall clock tower; it is also tied to Karachi's unavoidable history.

When you get closer to the entrance to the KMC building, the first thing that strikes you is the sheer size of the stone edifice. Surely, if the hands on the tower clock move, they will give the impression as if they're circumambulating 'H M King George V, Silver Jubilee Clock 1935' written around it. The façade is gorgeous. You climb a few steps to arrive at the place of work and see that to your right there's the Archives and Research Wing, and if you move your neck to the other side you'll discover the City Institute of Image Management (CIIM).

Leaving aside a few broken windowpanes on the second floor, the KMC building is fairly well maintained. Though the floors are clean, the walls indicate that repair work is going on. But the grand dimensions of (and interesting patterns on) the structure make you acknowledge its architectural grace.

The architect of this Anglo-Mughal style work of stonemasonry was James S.C. Wynnes, as indicated on one of the plaques inside the building. To impart a touch of Muslim architecture to the design, he came up with cupolas and arched shapes, which is why the corners of the building are topped by big domes. There's eye-catching detailing in different sections of the stonework as well.

It was in 1895 that the foundation stone for a Karachi Municipality Office on Bunder Road was laid by His Excellency the Right Honourable Lord Sandhurst, Governor of Bombay. For unknown (or known) reasons construction work didn't take off at the time. The location where the present office exists was subsequently chosen and the groundwork was completed in 1915. After a delay of another decade, construction restarted on Nov 5, 1927. On Dec 31, 1931 the plan was finally materialised.

Architect Noman Ahmed says “The KMC building is a fine example of Anglo-Oriental design. Local subcontinental details are overlapped A picture of Anglo-Mughal grace with corners topped by domes.

with colonial attributes. It is asymmetrical in appearance with decorative balconies and a well-defined portal. Its most significant oriental feature is the use of spherical cupolas.

“The building seems to be in okay condition, save for the fact that due to the installation of air-conditioners, water seepage can damage the wood used in its makeup. Also, there are spaces in the building which were once used as junkyards. I hope they're not there anymore,” says Mr Ahmed.

The senior district officer, archives & research department, naib nazim secretariat, Hassan Imam Siddiqui, says “Every year we used to sandblast the building to refurbish it, but architect Yasmeen Lari stopped us from doing so. She told us that the building would develop cracks if we kept on sandblasting it. Instead, a mild detergent should be applied, she advised.”

“It was in 2001 when we chanced upon an enormous heap of papers in the hollowed space of the clock tower. I informed City Naib Nazim Nasreen Jalil of it, and she asked us to collect those papers and not to throw them away. As a result, the idea of setting up an archives wing was floated, and now we have a treasure trove of historical Karachi-specific documents. Since the material was in poor condition, we have put in place a The Oct 12, 1942 edition of Dawn published from Delhi.

proper process that these torn and soiled pieces of paper go through. There's a vacuum fumigation chamber which kills the insects these writings contain. Then we try to put them back together, which ultimately leads to the research phase,” says Mr Siddiqui.

It is believed that local craftsmen were employed to raise the Karachi Municipal Corporation building (initially it used to be just the Municipality Office). While the archives and research department is trying its utmost to dig out stuff related to the city's illustrious past, it'd be great if documents identifying who those craftsmen were and what it took them to put up such a magnificent building could be unearthed.

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Dast-i-maimaar kon dekhta hai

mohammad.salman@dawn.com