KARACHI: It seems that our lack of respect for our signposts to history has rubbed off on those who hold responsible positions in the government’s departments of culture and archaeology. Merewether Tower is one of Karachi’s foremost landmark buildings. It is perhaps the most heard-of place in the city, that is, even if someone hasn’t been to it the word ‘tower’ alone would ring a bell because a majority of public transport buses use it as a marker to come or return to their terminating stations.
A recent visit to Merewether Tower revealed how poorly it has been kept and how disregard for such an important historical and architectural sight can turn it into something it was never meant to be.
The 129-year-old building is shrouded in dust. Though there are spaces where dust hasn’t yet settled, literally and figuratively, the body of the tower gives a hazy look from afar. Things get better as one gets closer to it as the building becomes more visible, still touching its walls won’t be advisable as clumps of dust will come off at the softest of touches.
Then there are other issues. For example, no one can read what’s written on the four sides of the tower. The words have faded beyond recognition. One word, ‘commissioner’ is visible from the I.I. Chundrigar Road side. From the entrance only ‘Merewether’ can be read. And from Shahrah-i-Liaquat the word ‘province’ is the sole highlight. Now it’s not a crossword puzzle that one has to solve. It’s a whole sentence which tells the visitor to whom this site is dedicated.
It is frustrating that those who look after Merewether Tower haven’t taken notice of it and repainted the dedicational words on it. The colour of the building, perhaps owing to insufficient maintenance, has lost its original sheen, whatever there was. There are black patches on the buff-coloured stones as well as on the base of the tower. The raised ground on which the building seems to be standing also has de-coloration, despite the fact that it appears the cleanest part of the whole sight.
The garden, if it can be called as such, is in a terrible state too. There’s hardly any grass on it and in the morning the larger space behind the tower is occupied by three dogs. They move around the whole space leisurely as if they’ve been living here ever since it was built. It is not a good idea to go near the historical structure for one of the dogs feels edgy and can hit the roof (read: bark his head off) at the very sight of a human being.
What further despoils the whole scene is the network of cables that crisscrosses the trees around the tower. Not only does it block the view of the beautiful tower, but it also imparts an ugly touch to it. As for the clock tower, the time that its hands show springs to mind the phrase, ‘race against time’.
