KARACHI, Oct 7: Construction work is being carried out on the old State Bank of India premises without getting the mandatory permission though the building is protected under the Sindh Cultural Heritage Act, it is learnt here reliably.

Located next to the State Bank of Pakistan on I. I. Chundrigar Road, the protected building had become a part of the SBP office complex, sources said.

They said nobody, not even the owner, could carry out any kind of construction, repairs, restoration, alteration or addition in a building protected under the Heritage Act, which prescribed long prison terms and heavy fines for the violators.

Construction or alteration activity in the protected site could be started only after getting no-objection certificates from the Karachi Building Control Authority and the advisory committee on cultural affairs, headed by the provincial chief secretary, is mandatory. However, no such permission had been obtained by the State Bank of Pakistan in this case, the sources added.

They said some partition walls had been demolished and doors were being constructed inside the colonial-style red sandstone building besides other minor changes so that it could house the proposed museum.

Sources said the Indian bank operated in this building for sometime after the partition in 1947, but as the relations strained between the two countries the bank pulled its shutters down. The building remained closed for a long time after which the government gave it to the State Bank of Pakistan for use.

The SBP opened its various sections in the stone building and operated its foreign exchange control department for sometime. The bank later shifted its library here. However, the bank planned to set up a museum in this building for which some alterations were being made inside the building, being constructed with Chhatar, the famous red sandstone from Jodhpur, Rajasthan in India.

Responding to Dawn queries, Dr Asma Ibrahim, the newly-appointed curator of the proposed monetary museum, said such facilities were functioning in almost every country. She said minor changes like removal of some partition walls, which were added to the original building, were being carried out and probably a few new doors were being made.

She said the work that was being carried out at a cost of over Rs60 million for the last four years was of a minor nature. She said no work was planned for the outer facet of the building.

The newly-posted Sindh Culture Secretary, Shams Jafrani, could not be contacted to get his response despite repeated attempts.

The Advisory Committee on Cultural Affairs member, Arif Hassan, said the question of permission did not arise when the State Bank of Pakistan had not submitted its plans regarding the establishment of the museum in the protected building. “No NOC or permission has been given to the State Bank,” he said, adding that an NOC must be obtained before carrying out any work in the protected building.

KBCA Area Controller of Buildings Agha Maqsood Abbas did not answer the calls made by this scribe to ascertain if the KBCA had approved the SBP’s plans or the authority had planned any action against the SBP for violating its by-laws. However, KBCA sources said, the bank had not even submitted its plans to the authority.

Sources said the SBP’s case was not the only in which the mandatory permissions had not been sought. Despite being aware of the illegal status of their work, many government organisations and influential people did not even apply for permissions before carrying out such illegal constructions. They cited the construction of two buildings in the headquarters of Pakistan Rangers, located in Jinnah Courts, and an auditorium being built in Hindu Gymkhana.