HYDERABAD: An official of the Sindh culture department has approached the Hyderabad administration seeking removal of encroachments near the protected area of tomb of Kalhoro dynasty ruler Mian Ghulam Nabi Kalhoro.

Hyderabad-based Sindhu Chandio sent a request to the assistant commissioner-city regarding encroachment around the protected area in Journalists Colony near Eye hospital.

The tomb of Mian Ghulam Nabi is located near Hyderabad central prison.

A letter dated Feb 19 drew the attention of the AC and seeking his assistance for removal of the encroachment.

In her letter, the culture department official stated that there was a ladies’ chamber (Tajar) at the western side of the monument which lies within the house of a local resident.

She said the encroachment was demolished with the help of the district administration in December 2018 but now the resident has again raised the wall in his house.

According to her, illegal construction work needed to be stopped / removed to ensure protection of protected premises from further destruction.

Talking to Dawn, Ms Chandio said: “Tajar is the premises where Mirs’ womenfolk including mother, wife and daughter of Mian Ghulam Nabi Kalhoro were buried and as per the Antiquities Act it is itself an antiquity.”

“There were two tajars of Mian Ghulam Nabi Kalhoro tomb. One is inside and the other is adjacent to the fortification wall,” she explained.

AC-City issues notices to alleged encroachers

She said that the encroachers had also built a cattle pen.

After receiving the letter, AC Syed Noor Hussain visited the area to take stock of the situation.

He told Dawn that he issued notices to the residents having their houses around the tomb, asking them to produce ownership/title documents, approved building plan(s), if any, relevant no-objection certificates / permissions from competent authorities and any other supporting record justifying the construction activity within three days.

Addressing occupants / encroachers, the notice said they raised encroachment / construction at the ladies’ chamber (Tajar) on western side of the tomb of Mian Ghulam Nabi Kalhoro, which is a protected property under antiquities laws.

The AC had already formed a Heritage Protection Committee for taluka city for preservation and protection of cultural heritage in his area.

Only a few days back, the AC supervised the dismantling of four walls adjacent to Pucca Qila’s fortification wall by the owner of premises, who raised construction in violation of the Antiquities Act 1975 and without approval from the department concerned.

Settlements around the tombs of former rulers of Sindh — the Talpur Mirs in Hirabad and the Kalhoros near the central prison, like those in Pucca Qila, Hyderabad — were built over the last several decades by different people. Even burials, in the recent past, took place near the tomb of Mian Ghulam Shah Kalhoro despite cultural officials’ resistance.

Published in Dawn, February 22nd, 2026