LAHORE, Jan 11: The provincial archaeology and Auqaf departments on Saturday filed their replies to a petition in the Lahore High Court for preservation of historic monuments in the Punjab.

The petitioner, M. D. Tahir, had pleaded that nine historic places in Punjab, including the shrines of Sheikh Syed Hassan Ali in Hailan and Nawab Daulat Khan in Qadirabad, a double-storey building in Jhandiala Sher Khan, Qila Kot Ramdas in Sargodha, the tombs of Zaibunnisa and Baba Budhu Shah in Lahore, the Baradari in Wazirabad, Jehangir’s tomb, and parts of Shalimar Garden were in a dilapidated condition owing to negligence on the part of the federal and provincial archaeology departments and the Auqaf department.

According to the petitioner, all these monuments were covered by the Antiquities Act 1975.

The director-general of the provincial archaeology department informed the court that the Baradari in Wazirabad had been rehabilitated under the Punjab Special Premises (Prevention) Ordinance 1985 while the remaining were yet to be preserved.

He claimed that the Baradari, commonly known as Dak Chowki, had been in an advanced stage of decay when work was done for its conservation in 1994-95.

The respondent said the provincial government had been requested to provide funds for an archaeological survey of the Punjab.

He said as soon as the funds were released, the existing list of antiquities would be amended to include these places.

He submitted that the shrine of Sheikh Syed Hassan had been preserved by the federal archaeology department in April 1976, and the department was responsible for its maintenance. The federal government would be requested to take action to preserve other monuments in the vicinity of this shrine, the official submitted.

The chief administrator of the provincial Auqaf department in his reply submitted that his department had nothing to do with the preservation of historic places mentioned in the petition. He said the Auqaf department was only responsible for looking after seven shrines in Uch Sharif, all of which were in quite good shape.

He claimed that a joint Rs9.4 million project of the Auqaf and provincial archaeology departments was under way for the preservation of various Uch Sharif shrines.

The federal archaeology department, also placed as a respondent in the petition, is yet to file its reply. The chief justice of LHC has already issued directions to the deputy attorney-general (DAG) for filing a detailed report on the subject by Feb 20.