LAHORE: The Evacuee Trust Property Board (ETBP) has launched the restoration of the Samadhi of Sir Ganga Ram and it will be open for the public at the end of this month.

The final resting place of the Hindu philanthropist is located on Ravi Road, close to Taxali Gate of the Walled City.

“On the direction of ETPB Chairman Dr Aamir Ahmad, restoration of Sir Ganga Ram’s Samadhi on the Ravi Road has been started. It will be opened for public later this month,” ETPB Deputy Director Fraz Abbas told Dawn on Tuesday.

The Samadhi was occupied by some persons for quite some time; therefore, it was closed for the general public.

“Recently we have retrieved the land [in-question] from the occupation of a family and started its restoration,” Mr Abbas said.

The Samadhi will be open for visitors after a decade or so.

“In addition to renovation, the board plans to open an art gallery in the Samadhi showcasing the work of the great architect,” Mr Abbas said and added local Hindus would be invited to its inauguration ceremony after completion of the restoration work.

Born in 1851 in Mangtanwala near Sheikhupura, Rai Bahadur Sir Ganga Ram was a civil engineer and an architect by profession. He made extensive contributions to the urban fabric of Lahore.

Sir Ganga Ram joined the Government College Lahore in 1869. In 1871, he did his engineering degree from the Thompson Engineering College at Roorkee, India.

Sir Ganga Ram designed the high court, Aitchison College, Hailey College of Commerce, Lahore Museum, Mayo School of Arts which is now known as the National College of Arts, the General Post Office building, the Albert Victor Wing of the Lahore Mayo Hospital and the Government College’s chemical laboratory.

He established it in 1921 at Lahore 26 years before the Partition of India. He died in 1927 in London.

Published in Dawn, May 13th, 2021