BAHAWALPUR: The Punjab Archeology Department has launched the initial restoration work costing about Rs28m of historical Chitti Masjid in Khanpur tehsil of district Rahim Yar Khan.

Talking to Dawn, archeology Sub-Divisional Officer (SDO) Sajjad Ahmed said the department had released an amount of Rs5m allocated in its budget for 2020-21 and the preliminary restoration work on the mosque had started.

He said that after the utilisation of this first installment of the funds, the government might release the remaining funds during the next year. He said the project might take two years to complete.

The Chitti Masjid is an historical monument in the village of Qadirpur near Khanpur. It got its name Chitti (white) due to the use of lime plaster inside and outside its structure. It is considered as one of the largest and most elaborate mosques in tehsil Khanpur. Nawab Ikhtiar Khan had got it built during his rule around the third quarter of the eighteenth century.

Due to the neglect over the years, the old brick masonry, wood work and lime plaster in the mosque were badly damaged while domes and vault roofs also disappeared.

The archaeology department declared the mosque as ‘Special Premises’ under the Punjab Special Premises (Preservation) Ordinance 1985 in 2019.

The Punjab government decided to take measures for consolidation of its structure and restoration.

The SDO said that after the utilisation of preliminary funds of Rs5m, a report would be submitted to the government to get more funds during the next year for completion of the restoration project.

WORKSHOP: The Department of Local Government and Community Development (LG&CD) organised a workshop at tehsil council to train the LG officials to use the Annual Development Programme Management Information System(ADP MIS).

According to a press release, the officials of the local bodies and community development were imparted training in 12 sectors, including budget, finance, assets, human resources and employees’ performance.

The participants were imparted training by Punjab local government additional chief secretary Tahir Khurshid, MIS manager Muhammad Adnan, senior programme manager of Punjab Information Technology Board (PITB) Maryam Zeb, project coordinator Arsalan Aziz and others.

Published in Dawn, November 9th, 2020