HYDERABAD: The culture department has recommended action against owners of the 1939 heritage building — titled Zakria Dawa Khana — for carrying out major alteration on its ground floor in violation of the Sindh Cultural Heritage (Preservation) Act 1994. However, it has not yet lodged an FIR against any of the suspects.

The clandestinely carried out digging in the shape of about 10 to 12 feet deep trenches was discovered only when a fire broke out on the upper story of the building on Sunday (May 3) and firefighters, relevant officials and a large number of locals entered the property to put out the blaze.

Assistant Commissioner City Mr Noor Hussain took notice of the blatant violation of the Act and extensive damage caused to the heritage site. He got the property sealed immediately after the fire was extinguished.

On Monday, culture department’s focal person for heritage buildings Rukunud Din Qureshi sent his report to the director general (antiquities & archaeology) and recommended action against the building’s owners in accordance with the law.

He stated in his report that on Feb 2, 2024 also, an incident of fire in the same building had taken place.

Location and ownership

The three-corner gro­und-plus-one building is located in the street No. 1 of the archaeological site of Pucca Qila just in front of a plot (No.1414). The plot was created after illegally demolishing the fortification wall of the fort in 2015.

The plot’s entry in the record of rights was cancelled in August 2023 by the then deputy commissioner.

The street No.1 has several such heritage properties dating back to 1938-1940 within and around it.

Information gathered by Dawn reveals that the property was enlisted in the name of multiple owners. Registered as City Survey No.2828 with 454-05 square yard area in Ward-E, one entry was made in the name of Mohammad Ahmad and his four sons in March 2003. After Ahmad’s death, another entry was made in July 2009 in the name of 12 family members of the deceased.

Ahmer Ahmed Shaikh is one of the current owners of the building as in his social media post on Monday, he stated that a fire had caused huge losses to his tenants and that this property “is on the brink of collapse”. He said the second incident of fire in his property was regrettable and required a probe.

Mr Rukunud Din informed the director general of antiquities and archaeology that the main gate of the building’s ground floor was broken open in the presence of the AC City which revealed shockingly that the owner of the building had done massive digging inside in violation of Sindh Cultural Heritage (Preservation) Act, 1994. Therefore, strict disciplinary action is recommended against the owners.

AC Noor Hussain visited the site again on Monday and saw “big trenches, at least 10ft to 12ft deep, have been dug up inside”. Plenty of construction material was lying there and civil structure of the floor appeared to be so weak that only a civil engineer or architect could suggest measures for its conservation.

A shopkeeper running a plastic crockery shop within the building has created a crater for keeping his merchandise. The outer side of the building has witnessed a number of alterations, made to create spaces for shops, with visible signs of cracks in the façade.

The culture department seems to have turned a blind eye towards all these violations of the law although its district office is located within the same vicinity.

Meanwhile, the assistant director (heritage) has issued a show-cause notice to the building’s owner for May 7, asking him to appear in person and explain his position in the wake of the damage caused to the structure. He has also been asked to stop all activities at the site and to ensure protection of the structure from deterioration.

The AC City said on Monday that he was trying to reach Mohammad Faisal, who is also stated to be one of the owners of the building.

Published in Dawn, May 5th, 2026