May 04, 2007	Friday	Rabi-us-Sani 16, 1428

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LAHORE, May 3: The federal and provincial archaeology departments are engaged in blame game over removal of scaffolding erected to restore the Shish Mahal’s roof.

The Shish Mahal has been lying closed to the general public for the last four years and both the departments are reticent over the opening of the spectacular monument for the public.

It is the main attraction for visitors to the Lahore Fort because the palace has been designed in such a manner that the light of a small lamp can be reflected by thousands of little mirrors embedded in the walls and the ceiling of the closed room, creating the impression of a revolving, starry sky.

Federal Archeology Department Northern Circle director Saleemul Haq, who is the project director for Shish Mahal’s restoration, told Dawn that the removal of scaffolding was no more the responsibility of the team working on the project because the monument had been handed over to the Punjab Archeology Department in October last year.

He said all the equipment, including the scaffolding, used for restoration of the Shish Mahal’s roof had also been handed over to the department.

The project was launched because the Shish Mahal’s roof was damaged by rains and Unesco and the Norwegian government undertook its restoration. In 2003, a grant of $890,000 was released and another $600,000 were given two years later for the Shish Mahal, Royal Kitchen and Akbari Gate.

Mr Haq said after 2005 no funding was given and the last work done on the monument was stucco tracery which required another Rs700,000 for completion.

Answering a question, he dispelled the impression that the scaffolding had not been removed for fear of Shish Mahal’s roof getting destabilised. The scaffolding was lowered by six feet when the project was left in October last year and now there were only those scaffoldings on which craftsmen could stand and do the stucco tracery.

It was up to the Punjab Archeology Department to remove the scaffoldings.

Punjab archeology department’s newly-appointed director-general Shahbaz Khan, on the other hand, insisted that the team working on the Shish Mahal should have first removed the scaffoldings before handing over the monument to Punjab.

He said on the request of Unesco the federal government’s team under the supervision of Mr Haq was allowed to continue work till the completion of the project even after the transfer of the Lahore Fort to the Punjab government.

“We don’t want to take the risk of removing the scaffolding without Unesco experts who were engaged in the project and need an assurance from them that the removal of planks will do no damage to the ceiling.”

He made his point by claiming that Unesco experts had informed his department that the scaffoldings would be needed till completion of restoration work of the ceiling.