KARACHI, Feb 27: The Sindh government has directed the Public Works Department (PWD) to stop construction activities in the Old Customs House building, a site protected under the Sindh Cultural Heritage Protection Act (SCHPA), it is reliably learnt.
The PWD told Dawn that the construction work at the building had now been stopped and all designs and work plans, along with an application for permission to resume work, have been submitted with the Sindh Culture Department.
According to sources, the department had issued the same directive to the PWD many days back also but the latter had ignored it and continued with its construction activities in defiance of the SCHPA, which prescribes long prison terms and heavy fines for violators of the Act.
For any inevitable repairs or alteration at a protected site, an NOC/permission from the Advisory Committee on Cultural Affairs, which is headed by the Sindh chief secretary, has to be obtained.
In the case of Customs House, the PWD had, without seeking an NOC/permission, undertaken extensive construction work, which included fixing of tiles on the floor and roof of several rooms, changing of the teak wood work of the roof, etc., and repairing the foundation of the pre-partition beautiful stone building which was affected by dampness.
The sources said that some conservation architects who had examined the ongoing work had expressed concern over the lack of expertise in the PWD staff involved in the construction work.
The sources said that when the SCD came to know that the PWD was still continuing with its illegal construction activities, it issued a second directive. The second letter, on the subject of “Renovation and Repairs of Old Customs House Building, Karachi” has been issued to the PWD’s chief engineer. It says: “.... it has been observed that construction is still being carried out. You are directed to kindly stop all construction activities in the said building till approval of the Advisory Committee for Sindh Cultural Heritage.”
SCD Additional Secretary Rabiya Javeri Agha told Dawn that now when a second letter has been issued to the PWD, hopefully the illegal construction work would be stopped. If it is not stopped, then further action would be taken.
Responding to Dawn’s queries, PWD chief engineer Shakeel Ahmad said that he had stopped the work and sought permission from the relevant authorities to resume the same. He was optimistic about grant of the permission.
The SCD has said that the advisory committee would be meeting soon to consider the request.
The culture department implements its writ viz-a-viz the SCHPA through the Karachi Building Control Authority (KBCA), which, according to the sources, rarely acts when the violation is carried out by some government organization.
The sources observed that the authorities’ act of turning a blind eye towards the government organizations in such cases was making people to believe that laws for the government organizations were different from those applied strictly on citizens and private organizations.
