KARACHI, Sept 29: Frere Hall, one of the few historical monuments in the city, has been losing its grandeur and decaying fast, thanks to the apathy of the city and provincial governments.

Besides, tight security arrangements that have been put in place to provide protection to the American Consulate and the residence of the US consul-general have also contributed to the poor condition of the Frere Hall located between these two "sensitive" roads.

The scene at the Frere Hall building is pathetic, to say the least. As one goes upstairs to enter the main building, one finds some broken, abandoned pieces of furniture on the left of the first flight.

On the middle landing, right on the front wall a plaque meets your eyes; it says the grand edifice was built way back in 1865. Further up, the first floor, accommodating an art gallery and an office, speaks volumes for the neglect with which the place is being handled.

Almost all of its [20-foot-tall and 4-foot-wide, approximately] doors and windows are broken. Nevertheless, some of these artistically made doors and windows have been repaired to the extent that they are holding together.

The false ceiling has many holes and a faded carpet does not have a spot without a bird dropping! Welcome to the gallery named after Pakistan's greatest artist and muralist, Sadequain.

Frere Hall, made with yellowish stones in the middle of a lush green lawn, is one of the places Karachi can be proud of. In the late '50s, authorities set up a rich library after the name of Pakistan's first prime minister Liaquat Ali Khan on its ground floor. Sources said there were some 30,000 books in the library, but arrangements are not adequate to run it.

In 1986-87, Sadequain started calligraphic work for one of the ceilings of the art gallery. Death, however, did not permit him to complete the work. The place is also used for official and unofficial functions.

For the past many years, a weekly old books bazaar is held on the spacious cemented floor in front of the main building, drawing a large number of book lovers from all parts of the city.

Keeping in view the importance of the building, the city government should have chalked out a programme decades ago to preserve it. However, as is our attitude to other such monuments, no one felt the need for such a measure.

In the year 2002, a powerful bomb explosion in front of the American Consulate opposite the Frere Hall struck a serious blow to its fittings and fixtures. Most of the doors and windows broke down and fell. Bookracks collapsed. Windowpanes shattered. Panels of false ceiling fell off their frames.

Following another bomb blast near the residence of the US consulate-general a couple of months back, the administration tightened security in the area, making it virtually impossible for the general public to access the Frere Hall garden freely - now known as Bagh-i-Jinnah. Less visitors means less complaints about the poor condition of the building and less complaints mean there is nothing that needs urgent attention.

Soon after the blast in 2002, the city nazim had inspected the damage and issued orders for repairs. The engineering and works department of the city government prepared a Rs1.7 million estimate for restoring the building to its pre-blast status. However, for reasons best known to the department concerned the work has not been initiated yet, neither is there any sign of it getting started any sooner.

Talking to this reporter, Iqbal Zubedi, in charge of the city government's Community Development Department, admitted that there had been inordinate delay in the start of the repairs. He, however, did not explain the reasons for this delay.

In reply to a question, he expressed the hope that the renovation work would start during the current financial year. Another senior official of the city government said: "It was in 1986-87 when last major repairs were carried out in the Frere Hall."

Answering a question, he said instead of carrying out the repair of the damaged parts the government should launch a project to renovate the entire building in order to restore its lost glory.

The annual Sadequain Award competition will be held on Oct 6 in which artists from all over the country will participate. The city government will only take a delayed but appropriate step if it announces the launch of a renovation project on the occasion.