KARACHI, Jan 15: Construction activities are being carried out in the Old Customs House, a building protected under the Sindh Cultural Heritage Protection Act (SCHPA), without getting mandatory NOC from the Sindh Culture Department, it is learnt. The construction is being carried out by the Pak PWD, and its top officials maintain that it is a federal government department and it does not require any permission or NOC from any provincial government department.

Nobody, including the owner, could carry out any construction activity, including repairs, restoration etc., in a building protected under the SCHPA, which prescribes heavy fines and long prison sentences for the violators.

A permission from the Advisory Committee on Cultural Heritage, that is headed by the Sindh Chief Secretary, has to be obtained before carrying out any activity in the protected site.

A conservation expert and the Conservation and Rehabilitation Centre for Heritage Buildings in Pakistan chief Yasmeen Cheema, who had visited the site and observed the on-going work says that one of the major issues is that foundations of the building are submerged in water, and as the stone used in the construction of the building has 97 per cent lime content, it will slowly dissolve in water and at some point the major deformation of the wall was likely to take place that will have effect on the entire building.

She says that the façade of the pre-partition colonial style stone building, located adjacent to the equally imposing and beautiful building of KPT, has been extensively sand-blasted which has resulted in pitting and cracking of the lime stone that has not only marred the façade but had also affected the beauty of the building.

She says that the Banglore tiles on the roof were not being installed properly and there was heavy use of cement in repairing the walls etc which is by now known for causing disintegration of the historic materials.

She says that the Customs House ceiling is made of timber beams, rafters and purloins, covered with Banglore tiles, and the ceiling in its original form could be seen only in one room and if the false tiles are removed from all rooms on the first floor, the original timber structure will be exposed improving the building aesthetically.

She said that major portion of the approximately Rs 30 million renovation work would be carried out to damage the historic fabric of the building and she suggests that as no expertise in the conservation or restoration work is available with the Pak PWD, the construction work be carried out in consultancy with the conservation experts.

The old floor tiles that were part of this building’s architectural concept had been broken, damaged and removed, and were being replaced with uncomplimentary bathroom quality tiles.

Responding to the Dawn queries on Thursday, Pak PWD South chief engineer Shakeel Ahmad said that the Pak PWD was authorized to carry out construction / repairs etc work on the federal government buildings. It had its own departments dealing with architecture, structure etc of the building, and the plans were prepared and approved by it. The Pak PWD did not need any NOC or approval from any other department or from the Sindh government.

He said the height regulations on Sharae Faisal, or in other areas of the city were kept in mind while planning structures in such restriction zones, but even then everything from planning, designing and approval was done by the Pak PWD internally. In case of heritage buildings, PPWD ensured that the facade of the building was not changed, but even in that case also no NOC or approval was sought from any outside department or provincial government.

Mr Ahmad said that some time back, the PPWD had carried out repairs etc of the Supreme Court Building in the city, where earlier KW&SB’s head office was located, opposite the Shaheen Complex. It was also a heritage protected building, but no NOC was obtained from any provincial department or the KDA/KBCA, and the work was planed and carried out by the PPWD.

He said that over a year-and-a-half long Customs House repairs and restoration project, which began in October 2005, is being implemented at a cost of over Rs 26 million and would be completed by December 2006. Major works to be carried out are change of tiles and wood work, plaster (using the cement and mortor) work, etc.

Dawn contacted the office of the Customs Collector Muneer Qureshi, but he was out of the office for lunch.

Responding to the Dawn queries on Thursday, Sindh Culture Secretary Mahtab A. Rashdi said that the Sindh Culture Heritage Protection Act is very clear and it says that a prior permission and NOC is required from the Advisory Committee on Cultural Heritage Affairs, headed by the Sindh chief secretary, before carrying out any construction, repair etc work in a building which is protected under the act.

She said that no application for carrying out any construction activities in the Customs House has been received by the department, so the issue of giving permission or issuing NOC does not arise.