KARACHI: The historical building of the Sindh Governor House, which is being opened for families on Friday (today) as per order of Prime Minister Imran Khan, will be open daily from 6am to 10am on working days while on Sunday it will be opened in the evening only from 4.30pm to 6.30pm.

According to official spokesman Saleem Khan, in the first phase, only families will be allowed to visit specific parts of Governor House.

According to an official communication, for visiting Governor House in form of a group, permission has to be taken in writing in advance.

The people are reminded that being a national asset it is the responsibility of all to look after Governor House.

For safety purpose closed-circuit television cameras are already operating and as such damaging any part of Governor House will be taken as a criminal act. In case of any emergency Governor House could be vacated.

Similarly any person who is called for identification has to identify himself/herself. Governor House is located on the original site of the now-demolished Government House, which was built in 1843 by Sir Charles Napier while Sindh was part of the British Raj.

The construction of the present Governor House started in 1936 by architect R.T. Russel. It was completed in 1939 at a cost of Rs700,000.

Following independence, the building became the residence of Governor General Quaid-i-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah.

The Quaid-i-Azam resided in the house until his death in September 1948.

Published in Dawn, September 7th, 2018