BAHAWALPUR: The suspension of restoration work on Farid Gate, one of the monuments defining the city, has rendered the site an eyesore for the citizens.

The restoration work on the historic gate was undertaken as part of local administration’s city beautification project.

Earlier, the administration had engaged art students to draw paintings depicting local culture, heritage and life in Cholistan desert on outer walls of various buildings along the Circular road from Farid Gate to Library Chowk.

Spotlights were also installed on the walls to highlight the paintings on the buildings, including the historic Nawab Sadiq Reading Hall, now named as Central library, which presented a fascinating night view.

Farid Gate’s restoration work was initiated by the tehsil municipal administration (TMA) some time back on the directive of Commissioner Saqib Zafar.

The contractor engaged for the purpose deployed labour on the site, shifted construction material there and got erected the shuttering to remove the old plaster from the monument so that marble tiles could be fixed there to restore its original shape.

The citizens welcomed the move as the renovation work on the gate had been undertaken again after passage of several years. The monument’s first renovation was initiated under the former district nazim Tariq Cheema.

However, to utter disappointment of the people, after some time the labourers working on the site disappeared and the work was suspended. The project paraphernalia, including construction equipment and some material, could still be seen dumped on the site that caused hindrance to traffic flow and pedestrian movement.

The fountain at the site has also dried up following its closure during the first dengue outbreak in 2011.

According to sources, the contractor not only left the restoration work incomplete but also managed to take away the deposit call from the city TMA record.

Tehsil Municipal Officer (TMO) Zahid Javed Khan confirmed that the contractor’s deposit call amounting to Rs2.3million for both Farid Gate and the fountain restoration “mysteriously disappeared” from the record.

He added that departmental action against the officials concerned was under way and the contractor had been black-listed.

He said the contractor abandoned the work due to the delay in finalisation of the design of the marble tiles to be used for restoration of the monument by the concerned officials. He said now the renovation work would be undertaken by the buildings department, expressing the hope it would be finished soon, relieving the citizens of the agony and inconvenience.

Published in Dawn, June 8th, 2015

On a mobile phone? Get the Dawn Mobile App: Apple Store | Google Play