THATTA Suspension of work on the under construction five furlong metalled road, passing through Shahjahan Mosque - an architectural masterpiece of Thatta town, has become a permanent problem and inconvenience for commuters.
The reconstruction of road worth Rs6.59 million from Traffic Police Chowki to Thatta bypass began in the end of 2007. The road was passing near the Shahjahan Mosque built in 1644, besides Dabgheer Masjid, Amir and Khani Masjid. The road connects Thatta to Badin Highway. The Thatta Historical Society and other organisations lodged their protest with the authorities, including provincial Minister for Works and communication Manzoor Hussain Wassan over dumping of mud by the Highway Department for raising the level.
Representatives of the civil society maintained that the raising of highway above the ground level was a great threat to historical sites as it would sunken the ground levels of these structures below the level of highway and the drain water will be streamed into the Mosque, ultimately damaging its foundation. Since the protest, the work on the road was left abandoned.
People said that unnecessary delay in construction of highway would render irreparable loss to the legendary Shahjahan Mosque and other historical sites because the ground level was already raised but the metallic surfacing yet not carried out.
The people have demanded the completion of this road to avert any damage to historical site, as well as to streamline the routine vehicular traffic and facilities to commuters.
