LAHORE, Sept 11: The Auqaf department has damaged a wall of the Badshahi Mosque behind the tomb of Allama Iqbal for installation of drainpipes.

The department has also dug up soil from land behind the tomb, which reportedly belongs to the federal archaeology department and forms part of a protected monument.

The department has broken the wall at half a dozen places to fix pipes. But archaeologists claim that the pipes could have been fixed at a corner of the wall without damaging it.

The Auqaf secretary and additional secretary were not available for comments. However, an Auqaf spokesman said the monuments under department’s control were repaired by the Punjab Archaeology Department. The Auqaf department had nothing to do with the repairs, he said.

Punjab Archaeology Department deputy director Talib Husain said there was no other way to drain water from the place of ablutions. He said the wall was broken only to fix pipes and would be repaired in three months. The pipes would have looked ugly on the wall, he maintained.

Mr Husain also claimed that the wall was not built by Mughals. It was a later addition and was built in the 60s, he said.

Officials of the federal archaeology department, however, claimed that the wall was built during the British period.

They also said the Auqaf department had dug up soil from the floor near Allama Iqbal’s tomb, which was protected under the law. They said that they had sought an inquiry into the matter.

Built by Fidai Khan for his foster-brother Aurangzeb in 1673AD, the Badshahi Mosque has been in disrepair for over four decades. The red-sand stone of the floor needs urgent repairs.

The mosque was last renovated between 1939 and 1960. It had been damaged after being used as a military store by Maharaja Ranjit Singh. The British government had restored it to Muslims in 1856.

The Auqaf department has sent a draft proposal to the finance department for Rs36 million for renovation of the mosque.