KARACHI: The Sindh government on Monday planned to launch a province-wide comprehensive survey of heritage buildings to strengthen the protection, preservation and documentation of the province’s cultural assets.

Officials said that the decision, aimed at creating an up-to-date inventory of historic structures, was taken at a meeting of the Advisory Committee on Cultural Heritage in Sindh, chaired by Chief Secretary Asif Hyder Shah.

They added that the survey would enable the provincial government to take more effective conservation measures and ensure that the province’s rich architectural legacy is safeguarded for future generations.

Among others, the meeting was attended by representatives of the culture and works and services departments, director generals (DGs) of the Sindh Building Control Authority and the Antiquities Department, Advisory Committee member Hameed Haroon, renowned heritage expert Dr Kaleemullah Lashari and architectural consultant and committee member Sohail Ahmed Kalhoro.

The chief secretary noted that the previous province-wide heritage survey, carried out in 2017, identified and officially designated 3,371 structures as protected heritage properties.

He said that, as time had passed, it had become crucial to re-evaluate the present condition of those structures, identify additional heritage sites and secure their legal and institutional safeguarding.

The chief secretary added that heritage buildings represented the cultural identity and historical legacy of Sindh, and that their preservation required updated data, strong technical capacity and effective enforcement of laws.

He instructed that the Sindh Secretariat’s support for the heritage department’s technical committee be strengthened, ensuring more efficient decision-making and oversight.

The meeting also decided to bring in skilled professionals from the private sector to enhance the Secretariat’s support for the technical committee, so that the expertise needed for heritage conservation, restoration and regulatory work is readily available.

It was also decided to make heritage protection laws more stringent and effective to prevent illegal alterations, encroachments and damage to heritage properties across the province.

Published in Dawn, December 30th, 2025