HYDERABAD: The facade of historic Pucca Qila’s main entrance collapsed with a big bang on Thursday during conservation work. No casualties were reported.

Sindh Minister for Culture Syed Sardar Ali Shah has ordered an inquiry into the incident. “The inquiry could be conducted by a five-member team headed by Sher Mohammad,” said director-general of culture Manzoor Kanasro.

The incident occurred at around noon during the underpinning exercise for the fortification of the wall of the 18th century fort, built by the ruler of Sindh from Kalhoro dynasty, Ghulam Shah Kalhoro, in 1768.

The work had been under way for quite some time. A portion facing the Bacha Khan roundabout was preserved by the culture department’s provincial development, monitoring and implementation cell (PDMIC).

Luckily, no one was passing through the entrance when the facade collapsed. Labourers were present on the left side of the fort’s gate. The debris was removed by labourers using a tractor-driven trolley. “The entire passage of the gate was cleared by the evening,” said an official.

“Labourers were busy carrying out underpinning on the left side of the wall. Under this exercise, any salted brick is replaced with a new one using recommended material,” said Sindhu Chandio, a Hyderabad-based official of the culture department. She said some work was already done on the left side of the wall. “We didn’t expect it will cave in,” she said.

According to her, shops are located right outside the main entrance and their operators had already been told to take care in order to avoid any harm to them during the work. She said the assistant commissioner (city) was also informed about the same.

Assistant Commissioner Mutahir Wattoo said that he was approached for administrative assistance. “Such assistance pertains to the general public using the passage for entry/exit purpose but no specific plan was submitted for conservation purposes,” he said.

A big population resides inside the fort and its wall is dotted with shops. A government school and the Fort police station are also located inside. Some personnel of the Frontier Constabulary had also been living there until recently.

The fort’s entrance had heavily and evidently tilted. Not only the facade of the main gate, but a considerably big portion of the wall on its right and left sides also collapsed.

Apparently, the department did not follow the required protocol for conservation. No formal coordination between it and the civil administration was adhered to either.

“We may have provided them [culture department] support for conservation work had it been discussed threadbare with us ... I think it is lacking technical expertise that led to the incident,” said Hyderabad Deputy Commissioner Fuad Soomro.

Since it was the main entrance for the people living inside, this could not have been entirely closed, he said, adding that the administration would have tried to strengthen the structure to facilitate the work and movement of people.

Minister Sardar Shah said any such exercise required a proper conservation plan. Considering the dilapidated state of the entire fort, the structure in question would have collapsed even if it was not touched for the work. He believed that the “wall had eroded due to human activity and lack of conservation”.

The minister said he would be sending an expert, Tanvir Ahmed, from Karachi as part of a five member-team to the site and seek his expert view. Other team members would include Engineer Sarfaraz Jatoi, archaeologists Sindhu Chandio and Nasreen Jalbani.

Ghulam Shah Kalhoro, Sindh’s former ruler, had built the fort in 1768 before Talpurs overthrew the Kalhoro regime in 1783 in the Halani battle. Later, Talpurs were defeated by Charles Napier’s forces in 1843 in battle of Miani. Hyderabad’s fort has been in a dilapidated condition and awaiting conservation work for a long time.

Sindh culture department has been pondering over conservation of this historic fort for long but appeared unable to carry out the required exercise. The department is understaffed whereas it also lacked the required technical experts at its disposal.

But the provincial government had repeatedly stated that “political aspect” of the Hyderabad fort could not be overlooked which did not allow it to start the work.

The exercise involves relocation of a large population from the fort to some other localities. Monsoon rains every year cause damage to the walls. It is, however, for the first time that the facade of the main gate has collapsed.

Published in Dawn, September 3rd, 2021