KARACHI: Govt plans to raze illegal structure of wildlife dept: Protected heritage site
KARACHI, Nov 2: The Sindh government has decided that an incomplete structure illegally constructed on the Masonic Lodge premises, a site protected under the Sindh Cultural Heritage (Protection) Act, will be demolished to set a precedent for all government buildings constructed in violation of the act, it has been learnt.
The decision was taken by the advisory committee on cultural affairs, headed by the chief secretary, highly-placed sources said, adding that the demolition work of the incomplete structure raised on the Masonic Lodge premises to house the office of the Sindh Wildlife Management Board’s chairman would start shortly.
Nobody, including the owner, can carry out any repairs, restoration or construction work in a building protected under the Heritage Act that prescribes heavy fines and long prison terms for the violators. In addition to the Karachi Building Control Authority’s approval of the building plans, an NOC from the advisory committee is a must before carrying out any construction work on the protected premises.
The Sindh Wildlife Department did not have either of the mandatory NOCs/approvals, the sources said.
The construction of the office building for the chairman and his staff on an open plot, situated on the department premises, was proposed by a former wildlife conservator, Abrar Mirza, following the nomination of Malak Asad Sikandar as the chairman by the then chief minister in 1994. Not mentioning that the provincial chief executive was usually the chairman, the then wildlife conservator, Abrar Mirza, pointed out that the previous chairman was provided with a furnished office along with staff in the Sindh Assembly.
He mentioned that Mr Sikandar and his staff did not have suitable accommodation in the wildlife department, housed in the Masonic Lodge, and proposed that the office building for the chairman and his staff be constructed on Plot No 3 RB-1 situated on the department premises.
No record of expenditures
The Sindh Wildlife Management Board’s funds were to be used for the construction. However, the record of how the funds were spent on the construction was not available with the Sindh Wildlife Department, according to the incumbent conservator, Hussain Bakhsh Bhaagat.
It was never probed and no responsibility was ever fixed for the wasteful and illegal expenditures, the sources said.
The ground floor structure of the building had been completed when the KBCA woke up and asked the wildlife department to stop the construction and get the mandatory approvals. Subsequently, the wildlife department initiated the process to get approval. However, they never got the approvals and the structure remained incomplete.
Now, keeping in view that illegal construction at protected sites is on the rise, the advisory committee has decided to demolish the incomplete structure to set a precedent for other violators of the Heritage Act. By demolishing an illegally constructed department’s building, the government would make it clear to others that illegal structures would be razed and such violations would not be overlooked, the sources said.
The advisory committee meeting, chaired by Chief Secretary Fazl-ur-Rehman, noted with concern that the construction on the premises of the Sindh Centre Building (Masonic Lodge) was made without any approval. Terming it a sore point, the committee decided that the NOC for construction of the building would not be issued; instead, the unfinished structure would be razed.
When contacted, Sindh Culture Secretary Shams Jafrani said that the decision to demolish the structure had been made. “Now, it is just a matter of time when the actual demolition starts,” he said.
Restoration project
Responding to Dawn’s queries, Sindh Antiquities Secretary Kaleem Lashari said that his department was undertaking a restoration project of the Masonic Lodge and demolition of the illegally constructed structure was part of the project.
The Masonic Lodge, originally owned by the Freemason’s Trust and called Jadughar or Sorcery House by the locals, was constructed at a cost of Rs60,000 during the First World War in 1915.
Though modest in scale, it is impressive owing to its frontage of a two-storey portico and columns capped by Ionic capitals. In order to present a simplified façade, there is no pediment reminiscent of Palladianism; instead, the flat roof is clearly expressed employing a simple entablature with dentils and a mildly decorative parapet.
The entrance portico also serves as the main stair hall, housing the grand timber staircase leading to the first floor. Several plaques – many of which had been taken away by influential people – fixed in the stair hall record the names of members and their contribution to the original “Lodge Hope.”
The organization was declared unlawful and dissolved under a presidential order published in the June 16, 1983 Extra Ordinary Gazette and the entire property was taken over by the government. The Sindh government allotted the building to the Sindh Wildlife Department on Feb 21, 1981.