KARACHI, Aug 13: Sindh Governor Dr Ishratul Ibad has asked law-enforcement agencies to vacate Pucca Qila in Hyderabad and report about the necessary action initiated in this regard by Aug 15, it is reliably learnt.

The Pucca Qila was built by Mian Ghulam Shah Kalhoro, one of the powerful rulers of the Kalhora dynasty. The fort was built in 1768 alongwith the city. There are also a few buildings of the Talpur period inside the fort.

The governor had passed the instructions upon receiving a letter from the department of archeology and museums, sources said, adding that the letter had pointed out that the offices and residential quarters of the department were under occupation of the police department and other law-enforcement agencies.

The letter, addressed to the principal secretary to the governor, reminded him that it had been decided at a meeting in Paris between him and the secretary of the ministry of culture the matter had come under discussion.

Issuing directives to the chief secretary, Mr Ibad said that as the province was already starved aesthetically, the archeological sites and premises on Pucca Qila which were under the administrative control of the department of archeology and museums, should be retrieved from the law-enforcement agencies and restored to the department.

He has also asked for making alternative arrangements for the accommodation of the law-enforcement agencies.

The chief secretary, in a letter to the director general, Pakistan Rangers, and the provincial police chief has asked them that the necessary instructions issued by the governor’s secretariat be assigned top priority and implemented with immediate effect.